Sixième étage
by Xx3-Dark-Angel-3xX
Summary: The gang is back together again for fun times, a dose of reality, drama, and, most importantly, food! Trial fic, that I'm not too sure where it's gonna go. Rated M for language & possible future chapters. Modern slight AU. ZoroxOC, LuNa, RoAce, so far.
1. Chapter 1

**I hate myself... for many reasons, but the most relevant to this is the fact that I PROMISED myself that I wouldn't start another story until I would get off my four month hiatus on my Xiaolin Showdown story, buuttt then I re-discovered the One Piece series and of course it got my juices going for a new fic.**

**Now I know that I already have a OP fic that I haven't updated in almost 7 years (YIKES! I can't believe I've been on here for that long), but I'm abandoning it. It's going nowhere that I would like it to, I've lost all motivation for it. This story will have nothing to do with the first one.**

**Thus, enter my new story, that will also probably be a shit show because I have no idea how to write for the characters properly, so expect some OOC. Please bear with me and if you want to and have the time or whatever, I would really appreciate help from whoever reads this and also writes for OP. **

**Okay, so this story is slightly AU . . . well it's definitely modern, that I know for sure. It's mostly Zoro & my OC-centric but we'll see, things will probably change. Other pairings that will be in it are RoAce (i had a hard time deciding between RoAce or RoFranky, so Franky and Robin are siblings instead), of course LuNa, and SanMysteryPerson which will be revealed later on.**

**Yes, this is technically post-timeskip, but not... Mainly, Zoro still has both of his eyes... and he's not as muscular as he is now, I kept Nami & Usopp's new hairs, and Franky can be however you guys want to picture him. Still haven't got a concrete hold on ages yet, but for now:: Everyone is 24 years old. Except:: Ace & Robin- 26, Chopper- 21, Brook- 30**

**EDIT::7/3/13:: I've removed the bit about how long everyone's known each other because now as I'm working on chapter 10, it makes no sense**

**My OC's name is Monica, just like from my original story. I cannot deny that she is basically Yoruichi Shihoin from Bleach (but with a normal hairstyle) , which was a complete accident. When I was thinking of how I wanted Monica to look, I knew that I wanted her to be dark-skinned and with black hair & then I remembered that One Piece characters have strange colored hair, so I went with blue & hated it and thought of purple and loved it, and then I stopped and thought "That seems very familiar, where have I seen someone who looks like that?" and then I remembered Yoruichi and it stuck. It completely stuck and I cannot picture Monica any other way so, whatever, I'm sticking with it.**

**Also... At this point, I have no definite title, which the one that this is has nothing to do with anything... other than its my sixth story.**

**So here we go!**

**DISCLAIMER:: I DO NOT own One Piece or really anything except for the storyline (sadly)**

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**Sixième étage **

**CHAPTER 1**

_'It's Sunday,'_ I thought when I first woke up.

I rolled over to my side and let out a small groan as I pulled myself out of my bed.

"Crazy, fucking Nami," I mumbled to myself.

I wouldn't be up so damn early today if it wasn't for her; well more specifically, if it wasn't for her dumb boyfriend. Stupid Luffy and his roommate got kicked out of their apartment. I think I was the only one who was surprised though, apparently this was the third time this year... And it's only April...

What does this have to do with me you ask? Well Nami and I are good friends; we met in college when we ended up in a few business classes together. Now, a couple of years since we graduated, she and our friend Robin, who I met through Nami, are roommates in an apartment on the floor above mine. When we hung out earlier in the week, Nami told me that Luffy and his friend were given a month to move out of their present apartment due to "a series of rental violations" about 3 weeks ago, but they weren't having any luck finding anything.

As it turns out, the apartment four doors down from me became available a few weeks ago, so I told her about it; I forgot that she was away when the former resident had to move out::

_ "Oh really? Why'd he move?" she asked me._

_ "It turns out that he was a serial killer," I informed her._

_ Nami was shocked and Robin, who was with us, chuckled to herself, "I knew something was off about him..."_

_ "And you never told us?" I asked of her._

_ She shrugged as she answered, "I never thought much of it."_

_ "Robin! You triple majored in psychology, anthropology, and archaeology. You should be the best out of all of us in reading other people!"_

_ "Let's just call it a slight lapse in judgment," she smiled at us._

_ "Weirdo..." I mumbled before taking a sip of my coffee._

_ "Well anyway, back to business. I guess I'll just speak to the building manager to let them move in. Will you be free to help us?" Nami asked me._

_ "Just let me know the day and I'll see what I can do," I answered._

Little did I know that it would be at 6am on a Sunday!

"She better be treating us to breakfast or something," I said to myself. I was finally dressed and ready to go and I grabbed my keys off my kitchen counter and left my apartment.

"Oi! Good morning, Neko-chan!" I was greeted as the elevator doors opened for me.

It was Sanji, another person in my strange circle of friends. He calls me Neko-chan because apparently my amber eyes remind him of those of a cat.

"Good morning, Sanji," I replied to him as I stepped into the elevator. I then reached over and snatched the cigarette that he had out of his mouth. "You know there's no smoking in here."

"You're no fun, Neko-chan!"

"Yeah whatever, just save it for later or something." According to Nami who had known him since middle school, my tall, blonde friend had been steadily smoking like a chimney for at least that long. I honestly can't figure out how his wife doesn't have a problem with it.

"But I haven't had my post-breakfast cigarette yet! You're gonna throw me off my schedule."

"Why didn't you just smoke before you got here?"

"I was running late and I didn't want Nami-chan to yell at me," Sanji explained. Right when he finished his sentence, the elevator pinged and the doors opened to the 5th floor.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT YOU'RE RUNNING LATE?! THIS SHIT IS GONNA TAKE ALL DAMN DAY AS IT IS!" We heard Nami shriek as we stepped out of the elevator. Mind you, the elevator is in the center of the building and Nami's apartment is two fire doors and a corridor away.

"Do you think she's yelling at Luffy?" I asked.

"Most likely," Sanji answered. Neither of us wanted to move from our spots, we didn't want to endure Nami's terrifying rage... But we didn't have too much of a choice in the matter...

"WELL WAKE HIS ASS UP!" Nami shouted. Sanji and I were now a few doors away from her apartment.

"LUFFY! WAKE. HIS. ASS. UP!"

We reached the apartment and Sanji pressed the doorbell. A few seconds later, Robin opened the door with her quiet smile. "Good morning!"

"Hey!" I greeted her and walked in.

"Good morning, Robin-chan! I like your new look," Sanji complimented her.

"Why thank you, Mr. Cook-san!" Robin replied. Her long black hair was pulled into a high ponytail in preparation for the move.

"So what's wrong?" I asked as I sat on the sofa next to Nami, who was now off the phone and banging her head on the piece of furniture's arm rest.

"Luffy just called, he said that they're running late because they overslept and then Ace's narcoleptic ass just knocked out while he was in the shower..." my orange-haired friend groaned.

"You can't depend on those fools to do anything correctly on their own," Sanji commented with annoyance as he went to the kitchen.

"Well at least all they have to do is get all of their things over here. It's a good thing that you made them pack up everything yesterday," Robin added.

"How do you all like your eggs?" Sanji called from the kitchen.

"Scrambled," the three of us answered in unison.

Sanji couldn't help himself, cooking was his life's passion, and he was damn good at it. After high school, he traveled the world for a couple of years and then went on to culinary school. Now he owns a chain of high-end restaurants around the world.

Honestly, all of us are just one big group of overachievers. Robin works as an archaeologist and a college professor... and a museum consultant. Nami studied accounting at our university and now does the bookkeeping for Sanji's and a few other businesses, including our joint event planning company.

It all started as a joke between me and Nami, and then Robin wanted to join in and add her floral expertise (she also loves gardening) and then Sanji wanted to be our preferred caterer. Surprisingly, our event planning venture is doing very well. I work with it the most, with a few other assistant planners and Nami and Robin help when they can. It's a lot of fun to have your career be something that you enjoy doing.

Then there's Ace and Luffy. They work at their grandfather's toy company as vice presidents. Ace manages all of the business deals with their grandfather, and Luffy mostly handles the productions and is head toy-tester, of course.

"Those assholes better hurry the fuck up," Nami muttered as she watched the street from the glass doors to her balcony. An hour has passed since Luffy last called and we were finished eating breakfast.

"Don't worry Nami-san, everything will turn out fine," Robin replied to her calmly from her seat in an armchair as she turned a page in the book she was reading. "You must have faith in them."

"Oh right! Who is Luffy's new roommate? I forgot that Usopp had to move a while ago because of his new job," I wondered. Usopp was one of Luffy's friends who worked with a weapon's development company.

"Just one of Luffy's old friends," Nami answered me; she seemed to be thinking about something else.

"That baka is probably the reason why they're running late. Stupid marimo..." Sanji said with disgust. He was seated in the corner of the sofa that I was also sitting on, stretched out, head tilted back, and trademark cigarette sticking up from his mouth. Nami and Robin didn't care when he smoked in their apartment, his cigarettes never seemed to leave a pungent stench everywhere.

"That still doesn't tell me who this person is..."

A few moments later, the buzzer sounded.

"Hey Nami! We're finally here! Let us in!" Luffy called through the speaker box. "Is Sanji there? I see his car. Sanji! I'm hungry! Make us some food!"

"You're running late and you have the nerve to ask for food!" Nami scolded him as she held down the button on her end of the call box. "Just get your butts up here so we can get a move on!"

Robin was quietly giggling behind her book, she always found their arguments so entertaining.

"Am I gonna have to hear more of this insanity now that he's gonna be down the hall from me?" I asked her with some dread.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Robin assured me with a smile.

"The both of you, shut up," Nami said to us before she walked off to her room. Robin and I just laughed at her annoyance.

"Hey! Let us in!" a familiar voice called through the door a couple of minutes later.

"Oi! Shut up you idiot," Sanji greeted Luffy once he opened the door and let him in. "People are still sleeping."

"Right, bro. The last thing you want is for your new neighbors to hate you," Ace added as he walked in after Luffy. "Morning, Monica," he said to me and came over to pat me on the head like I was a child. I hated when he did that. He then went over to Robin and kissed her on her cheek, "Good morning, Babe."

"Good morning, Ace," Robin smiled back at him. They were such a good looking, mismatched couple. I really have no idea how they've maintained their relationship when they're both so damn busy and hardly ever seem to be in the same country most of the time. But they've somehow managed to make it work.

I snapped away from watching them when a big brown thing leapt into my lap. "Oh hey there, Pappug," I said as I petted the dog. I swear, he had to be at least 200 lbs but was convinced that he was a tiny lap dog. "Wait, this building isn't pet-friendly. How were you allowed to move in with Pappug?"

Luffy, who made a beeline for the kitchen when he first came in, reappeared with a plate of the rest of the eggs that Sanji made for us earlier. "I don't know, Nami somehow managed to work it into our lease."

_'Good old Nami. She probably blackmailed him or something...' _I thought.

"Hey! Save me some, Luffy," Ace said in reference to his adopted brother's food.

"Go get your own!" Luffy said as he moved around the living room to avoid Ace. It was so bizarre how similar those two were despite the fact that they weren't biological brothers. Both Ace and Luffy were tall, thin, black-haired boys with the most incredibly childish smiles.

"Aren't we missing someone?" Nami asked as she walked in from her bedroom.

"Yeah, where's the marimo?" Sanji asked and then leaned out of the door to look down the hall.

"I thought he was right behind me when we walked into the building..." Ace said.

"Oh! He's calling me!" Luffy exclaimed and reached into his pocket for his phone. "Oi! Where are you?" . . . "You went down the wrong hallway?" . . . "How did you manage that? You were right behind us..." . . . "No, we made a right after the elevator, not a left."

"Of course the idiot got lost..." Sanji sighed and closed the door to the apartment.

"Well where are you now? Can you get back to the elevator?" Luffy continued and then waited for a response. He suddenly held the phone away from his ear and we all heard a muffled roar from the device. "Okay! Okay! Just stay where you are, we'll come find you." . . . "What?... Oh, Nami's apartment is 511. Why do you-?"

There was a knock at the door that caught our attention.

"Finally," Sanji rolled his visible eye that was not hidden behind his hair at the newcomer and came over to sit down next to me on the sofa.

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up you idiot-cook," a deep voice replied before a man stepped into the apartment.

Now, when I say that my heart skipped a beat when I saw Luffy's roommate walk in, I really mean that my heart stopped functioning for about a minute.

"Zoro, how the fuck did you get separated from Luffy and Ace?" I distantly heard Nami ask and they all continued their bickering conversation. But I couldn't really hear them; even though it felt like I lost my heart, there was still this intense pounding in my head. Was I dying?

"Neko-chan? Neko-chan? Are you okay?" I heard Sanji ask me as he poked my cheek. "You look a little pale."

"Oh. Shit." Those were the only two words that I could manage in response and suddenly, everyone's eyes were on me, even those of Luffy's green-haired roommate. I saw as his dark eyes widen in surprise.

"You," he breathed, and then everyone turned their attention to him.

A few moments of silence followed while everyone kept looking at him and me.

"Umm, what's going on?" Luffy asked.

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**Well, that was Chapter 1 guys! Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think so far (even though it's not much) and if you guys want Chapter 2. I hope I can do a good job with this.**

**Hasta Luego!**


	2. Chapter 2

**So let's forget about the fact that I have another story going and a 10 page paper to write that's due in 6 days and let's keep going with this one! Oh procrastination... I'm putting this up a little earlier than I expected just to keep it moving a bit faster. But don't worry, soon enough I'll only be updating like once a month XD**

**Here's Chapter 2 everyone! Enjoy!**

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**Sixième étage**

**CHAPTER 2**

It took me a moment to recompose myself to answer Luffy's question. "Nope, it's nothing. Don't worry about it," I said quickly with a small laugh.

He shrugged and then continued to eat. However, everyone else didn't seem to be so easily convinced. God damn Nami and Robin had this shifty ass look on their faces... They were definitely plotting something. While Sanji and Ace looked a bit concerned.

"You're lying," Nami stated with a wicked smile.

"Nami, just drop it," Zoro replied and walked around the room to the kitchen. Yes, I knew exactly who he was: Zoro Roronoa. We have a bit of a ... history, that apparently no one else knows about...

"Tell me what's going on," my crazy orange-haired friend pressed.

"There's nothing going on! Honest! Now can we get a move on, please? I didn't roll out of bed at six in the morning to discuss my life," I insisted and stood up from my spot on the couch, forcing Pappug to sit on the floor, and walked over to the door. "Are we ready?"

Robin, Sanji, Ace, and Nami looked from me to each other, quietly deciding that they wouldn't press the issue any further right now and shrugged.

"Zoro! Hurry up, we're gonna start getting the stuff from the truck!" Luffy called to his friend and placed his now empty plate on the coffee table in front of the couch.

I was already in the hall with Sanji and Robin when I heard Zoro say, "Nami, how could you not have any beer when you knew I was coming over?"

"I don't live to enable your alcoholism! Plus, it's not even anywhere near noon!"

"It's noon somewhere," Zoro replied as he, Ace, Luffy, and Nami joined is in the hallway.

"You have a problem..." Nami responded as she locked her door and we all made our way downstairs.

Zoro and Luffy managed to pack all of their furniture and everything else into their rented U-haul truck and it took us all damn day to move it into their new apartment. So by the time all of the boxes were in and the furniture was unpacked and arranged in what Nami deemed an acceptable fashion, it was already after 10 at night.

"Nami! I'm hungry!" Luffy whined as he rested his head on her shoulder. We were all in the living room with Luffy and Nami seated on the couch with Sanji, while Ace, Zoro, and I were sprawled out on the floor, exhausted.

"Alright, I've found menus for pizza, Chinese, and Italian food. Take your pick," Robin announced as she rejoined us in the boys' apartment. Earlier I had sent her down the hall to my apartment to grab some delivery menus.

"I'm too tired to do any complex eating. I vote for pizza," I said with my hand raised in the air.

"Ditto," everyone else agreed with me.

"Lovely," Robin said as she took out her phone. "Any special requests?" And then hell broke loose as all four men leapt up at her with their ideas on what they wanted on the pizzas.

A half hour later, we had our five exotic pizzas for the seven of us (Ace and Luffy are bottomless pits when it comes to eating and Zoro and Sanji refused to share a pie with each other) and Pappug, who was brought down a few hours ago. By the time we finished eating and talking, it was already midnight and I had work in the morning. We bid each other goodnight and the boys stayed in Luffy's apartment while Robin and Nami, who were too lazy to go up to their apartment, stayed the rest of the night in mine.

"Okay, Monica, tell us all of the details," Nami demanded as soon as I shut the door.

"What details?" I asked innocently.

"Moni-chan, it isn't good to hold out on your friends," Robin warned.

I just shrugged and walked to my room with the two of them right behind me.

"I didn't even know that you two knew each other," Nami said.

"Who are you talking about?" I asked as I opened a drawer and tossed a couple of over-sized T-shirts and sweatpants at her and Robin for them to sleep in.

"Moni-chan, don't play with us," Robin threatened. "You know I can get it out of you."

I pushed them out of my room. "Yeah sure,_ if_ there was anything that you had to get out of me. You guys know where the extra blankets and pillows are. Goodnight!" And I unceremoniously locked them out of my bedroom and sighed heavily before I dropped myself onto my bed.

"Fuck my life," I muttered into my pillow.

Today was another hectic day at work, checking in with my event vendors and clients and making sure that my assistant planners had everything that they were working on going smoothly. I stayed at the office a bit later than usual today to take care of some things in preparation for my day off tomorrow. As my own boss, I gave myself off from work on Wednesdays. I'm not really sure why, I guess it's just as a break in the middle of the week before the weekend rush of parties that I have to coordinate. So between that and all of the manual labor I did on Sunday, I was more than ready for my day off.

The second I got home, I stepped out of my clothes as I walked straight to my bathroom to take a shower. I didn't even realize what time it was until I went back into my room.

_'Shit, it's 11 already? Where did the day go?'_ I thought just before I heard someone pounding on my door.

"Who the fuck is that?" I wondered out loud as I stepped out of my room to peer at my locked door. The pounding seemed to be getting more intense.

"Dammit! Hold on! Let me at least put on some underwear!" I shouted as I slid on a random pair of panties under the towel that I still had wrapped around me.

I opened the door to find Zoro standing in the hall.

"Monica, we need to -"

"No," I simply said and started to close the door in his face.

He easily pushed the door back open and in two swift steps, he was in my apartment with his lips pressed against mine and his arms wrapping around my back. Damn, I forgot how good of a kisser he was, it's been so long...

After a few seconds, he broke the kiss and flashed that satisfied smile of his. I, on the other hand, was completely stunned by his actions and after a few moments, I realized how pissed off I was at him and slapped him across his face.

"Fucking asshole," I glared at him before I slipped from his grasp and walked back to my room to put on some clothes.

"Yeah, I guess I deserve that," I heard him reply as he closed the door.

I remained silent as I threw on a pair of sweatpants and hoodie and tossed my towel on my bed. When I walked out of my room, he was sitting on my couch in my living room.

_'This is so fucking bizarre, what the hell is he doing here?'_

"Hot chocolate?" I asked him as I walked by; chocolate calmed my nerves.

"Booze?" he asked me in return with some hope.

"Hot chocolate?" I asked again with some irritation as I heated a teapot of water on the stove and grabbed two mugs from a cabinet.

"Sure," he answered with a defeated sigh.

We waited for me to finish making the drinks in silence and we stayed silent for a few moments longer after I gave him his mug and joined him on the other end of my couch.

"This stuff doesn't taste right," he commented after his first sip.

"I put some whiskey in it," I explained to him.

"Ohhh! So you do still love me," the green-haired man smirked at me.

I just glared right back at him, "Bullshit. Now tell me why you're here."

And in that instant, his face hardened and he became very serious. "I realized that since we would now be living down the hall from each other, I would finally," he paused and looked down at his mug, like he was unsure if he should continue. He sighed and looked back at me before he went on, "I realized that I would finally have the chance to apologize to you. For everything."

I suddenly forgot how to swallow and choked on my hot chocolate.

"Shit! Are you alright? Breathe, dammit!" he panicked and came over to me. I felt him firmly pat me on my back in an effort to help.

After a few more coughs, my throat was finally clear and I could talk again. "Sorry, the thought of you actually apologizing for something caught me off guard."

"I know that at times I can be-"

"A cold, arrogant, stubborn brute?" I offered.

"... I was gonna say insensitive, but fine, whatever floats your boat."

He almost seemed a little hurt by my comment... but whatever, because I don't give a damn! After everything I went through with him... Nope, not caring...

He sat back on the couch, closer to me this time. "But I'm serious, Monica. I am sorry for everything that I put you through," he said and, although I wasn't looking at him, I could feel him watching me for some type of reaction. But I was preoccupied with my warm mug, and with trying to not cry. It's been what, four years now? Four years is a long time...

"I thought you died..." I finally heard those words fall from my lips. It didn't sound like me; the words carried so much sadness with them.

"And I apologize for that," my green-haired visitor said quietly as he took my mug and placed it on the coffee table before taking my hands in his. They were a bit rough, but warm, just like I had forgotten that they were.

And then it hit me; all of the emotions and memories that I had repressed came flooding back and I watched as a couple of my tears landed on our clasped hands.

"Monica, I-"

*_Buzz Buzz! Buzz Buzz!_*

I lifted my head, our eyes locked, and my sadness was gone.

_*Buzz Buzz! Buzz Buzz!*_

"Are you gonna get that?" I asked him with annoyance. "I know it's not my phone, mine is in my room."

_*Buzz Buzz! Buzz Buzz!*_

Zoro let out something similar to a growl as he searched his clothes for his phone. He finally whipped it out from one of the pockets of his black leather jacket.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered as he looked at his phone and then looked up at me. "I really gotta take this."

I just gave him a slight nod and then he stood up and walked to the kitchen.

Although my apartment has a bit of an open floor plan and the entire kitchen is clearly in my view, I couldn't hear his conversation. Honestly, I don't really care to know what he's talking about, I just want to regain my composure.

_'I can't believe I almost lost it in front of him,'_ I thought as I wiped the tears from my eyes. When I looked up again, he was done with his phone conversation and walking from the kitchen.

"Are you leaving?"

He let out an unhappy sigh. "Yeah, there's something that I have to take care of," he answered with clear annoyance as we both went towards the door. But then he paused and his eyes met mine with the look of having a new idea. "Unless, you want me to stay so that we can finish talking or something."

I didn't say anything for a while, I had no idea what to say. Again, he was being somewhat emotionally aware. This sort of thing didn't happen often; he had matured so much since the last time that we saw each other.

"No, it's fine, go do what you have to do," I replied to him and opened the door a little.

He held my gaze for a few moments longer before he placed a light kiss on my cheek that I didn't even see coming.

"G'night then. We'll finish up this conversation soon?"

"I don't have much of a choice do I?" I asked after I shook off my temporary daze.

"Not really."

"True..." I sighed with some sadness. I really didn't want to deal with this...or with him. Last time I checked, he was dead! "Well, until then I guess."

"Yeah, bye."

"Goodbye." And with that, I closed the door behind him.

"Oh my head!" I called out as I awoke the next day. "Fuck!"

I sat up and looked around to find myself on the couch in the living room.

"Oh right," I sighed to myself as I remembered the night before. Zoro is alive and well and even stopped by last night; and that seriously fucked with me mentally so that after he left I had a complete emotional breakdown and cried tears of both happiness and sadness. . . What kind of sick joke is that? I'm such a wimp . . .

So in response, what does any self-respecting adult do when overwhelmed with their emotions? Drink. Drink all the liquor til you can't feel anything.

_'Robin has told me on numerous occasions that my coping skills suck,' _I thought as I slowly began to pick up the empty wine bottles from the floor. _'Oh well... at least I don't have to be anywhere today, so I can just sleep this hangover off.'_

After bumping into a few pieces of furniture as I finished clearing last night's mess and then dry swallowing some ibuprofen, I dragged myself to my room and collapsed onto the bed.

_*Buzz Buzz! Buzz Buzz!*_

_'Phone?... Where'd I put my phone?' _I thought as I sat up and scanned my bed and room for my phone. I found it on a nightstand and for the first time since I woke up, I saw what time it was.

"Shit, it's already almost 1pm... Whatever," I mumbled and unlocked my phone to read my new text message. It was Robin asking me to hang out tonight for dinner.

"I'm hung over and I have to be up early tomorrow. Call me at 7, if I don't answer then I'm still asleep and can't make it," I sent back to her.

Almost a minute later, Robin responded, _"Okay! :) But why are you hung over? We're you partying without us? Nami will not be happy to hear of this :p"_

I laughed a bit at this. "Lol! NOOO, I would never. I was just trying to unwind last night and overdid it. I woke up on the couch like 30 mins ago."

_"Silly Moni-chan. Well I hope you feel better for tonight. Get some rest!"_

"Thanks!"

And with that conversation over, I stuffed my phone under my pillows and went to sleep.

So I somehow managed to be enough of a functioning human being a few hours later to shower, get dressed, and then make my way up to Nami and Robin's apartment for dinner.

"I've got the wine," I greeted dryly, holding up the bottle, when Robin answered the door.

"Do you really think that it's a good idea to keep on drinking?" my raven-haired friend wisely smiled at me as she let me in.

"Nope, but that's okay with me."

Nami came out of the kitchen carrying a large serving bowl full of steaming spaghetti in one hand and a serving bowl of sauce in her other hand. "You look like shit, girl. What happened?"

"She has a hangover," Robin explained without giving me a chance to answer and went into the kitchen.

"What? Did you go out without us?" Nami asked me.

"No, she was 'relaxing'," Robin answered for me again as she returned from the kitchen with a small bowl of grated cheese and a small plate of bread. The table was already set for the three of us, so all we had to do know was dig in.

"You were drinking alone again? Oh what's wrong Monica? It wouldn't have anything to with Zoro would it?" My orange-haired friend teased me.

"If you guys invited me here to talk about Luffy's roommate who is a complete stranger to me, then I will leave," I glared at her and then turned to Robin.

"Oh don't be so dramatic, sit down," Nami waved and we all took our seats and started to eat.

"You guys still have the end of May open right?" Nami asked us after some menial conversation. Robin and I both nodded.

"Why do we need to have it free anyway?" I asked her.

"Because, I would like to take us all on a lovely trip!" She replied excitedly.

"That you're paying for?" I asked with disbelief. Nami can be very stingy with her money... There was definitely a catch...

"Yeah, well it'll mostly be my treat. But if you want to help out, you can. Like Sanji said that he'll take care of all of the food and cooking-"

"Oh, Sanji's coming?"

"Yeah," Nami answered as though it was obvious.

"So it's the three of us and Sanji?"

Nami paused and looked at me like I had lost it. "No... it's all of us. Me, you, Robin, Sanji, Luffy, and the others..."

"Oh! Well don't look at me like I'm crazy! How was I supposed to know that?"

"I thought I already told you this!"

"Well obviously not... Where are we even going?"

"It's a surprise," Robin chimed in with some excitement.

Hmm...I'm starting to get suspicious... "Okay... so how are we getting there?"

"That's also a surprise!" Nami grinned.

"...I don't think I like where this might end up... Is there anything else you could tell me other than just who's going?"

"You can pack as many clothes as you want? There's no luggage maximum?" Nami offered.

"As much luggage as I- How long do we plan on being on this trip for?" I asked; I don't like not knowing things!

Robin paused as she looked to be doing some math in her head. "One to two weeks... minimum."

"M-minimum?" I repeated with disbelief. What the hell were these two crazies planning? "You do realize that we have lives and jobs that we'll have to get back to, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll figure that out once we get back from our vacation," Nami said a bit too calmly.

_'_If_ we get back from our vacation. . .'_ I thought before I sighed and we changed the subject to something less unknown.

* * *

**Hello! Hope you guys liked this one. So as you can tell, Zoro and Monica were a bit of an item in the past... Hmm... interesting...**

**Thanks for reading! See you guys next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

******Only on chapter 3 and I still forgot to update sometime last week like i was supposed to. Ugghh! Oh well, I did remember this time. **

******Thanks to you guys who've been reading and checking in!**

******Here's chapter 3!**

* * *

******Sixième étage**

**CHAPTER 3**

_'I really need to stop doing that,'_ Monica reflected as she leaned against a wall in her apartment building's elevator. Another Sunday just came and went and she was exhausted. Since the Thursday before, she had to oversee two rather large weddings, one bridal shower, and three birthday parties. Although she did have a few other assistant event planners, she really had to stretch herself thin these last few days to make sure that everything ran smoothly and to give it her stamp of approval. Plus, Nami and Robin weren't around to help her. Nami was with Sanji on a business trip to Alabasta and Robin is leading a study abroad trip with her students on Dawn Island. This was nothing new, every once in a while the girls wouldn't be home to help Monica, so this was expected.

The keys in her hand jingled as she pulled them from her coat pocket to unlock the door to her apartment.

"Hey," a deep voice called from behind her.

Monica turned her head to see Zoro coming towards her from his own apartment. She just smiled and waved at him, too tired to open her mouth to say "hello".

"Are you free tonight?" Zoro asked her as he stopped in front of her. "Since Luffy's away for the next few days, I have to take Pappug on his walks," he explained and motioned to the big brown dog next to him.

"I don't know, it's been a crazy weekend and I have a date tonight," she sleepily answered.

The green-haired man furrowed his eyebrows. "A date with who?"

"My bed," Monica smiled.

Zoro seemed to let out a small sigh of relief as he smirked back at her. "I'm pretty sure your bed wouldn't mind if you ran a little late tonight."

The young woman sighed and looked down at the dog who was patiently waiting for his nightly walk to begin. "Alright," she answered and checked the time on her phone. "Just give me a couple of minutes to change."

Zoro gave her a small nod in understanding as he and Pappug followed her into the apartment and then went straight to her fridge.

"No, there's no beer," Monica stated from her room as she changed clothes, she knew Zoro too well to not expect him to immediately search for his favorite drink. "And if memory serves me, you never really cared too much for wine, but there might be some sake in there from earlier this week."

"...Murasa, there's barely a sip left in here," the man commented when he found the almost empty green bottle.

She was just about to walk into the kitchen behind him but paused when she heard him call her by her nickname. It had been a long time since she heard him call her that. He came up with the name in reference to her naturally purple hair, but was too fucking lazy to finish out the word "murasaki", the correct term for purple.

"Oh calm down, it's not like you even live here," Monica replied when she mentally returned to the scene in front of her. "We'll just get something while we're out," she added and then went to get a jacket and scarf, it was April, but it was still pretty chilly outside at night.

"Well, well, look at what we have here," Zoro smirked when he turned from the fridge and saw her as he walked back towards the door with Pappug in tow. She had exchanged her blazer, dress, and heels for a zip-up sweater, a plain t-shirt, and yoga pants, all of which were fitted enough to hug the new curves that she acquired over the last few years. He mentally noted that her curves were nowhere near as dramatic as Nami and Robin's, but that was fine with him, he had always loved Monica's body just the way it was.

"That's the third time, one more and I'm calling the cops to file a harassment charge against you, Mido." She paused again when she realized that she had used her nickname for him. In response to his name for her, Monica decided that she would call him "mido", short for "midori", in reference to his green hair.

"Murasa, it's only harassment if it's unwelcome." He still had that arrogant smirk on his face.

Monica glared at him as she pulled on her jacket. "Who said that I found your actions welcoming? Now get out of my apartment, idiot," she said to him and jokingly shoved him out into the hall with her foot.

"So why'd you want me to come with you to walk the dog?" Monica asked. The pair was already out of their apartment building and a few blocks down the street. "If I remember correctly, you were always good at silently brooding by yourself."

Zoro shrugged in response, they were now at a corner waiting for the traffic light to change. "Luffy met up with Ace to visit his grandfather, Robin's away, and even if Nami was home, we've already decided that we shouldn't be left alone because one of us might kill the other."

The light changed and they could safely cross the street. "And...?" Monica pressed.

"...And this ended up being the perfect opportunity to talk to you again?" he guessed.

Monica stopped walking, glanced up at him, as he was taller than her, and then looked around.

"What's wrong?" Zoro asked of her. By the time he noticed that she had stopped walking, he was already a few feet ahead of her.

The purple-haired woman's gaze fell on him when she heard his voice. "Hot cocoa," was all she said.

"Murasa, what the - Oh," he started and then noticed the food cart she stopped by. "Yeah, here, hold onto Pappug." Zoro walked back and handed her the dog's leash before turning to the food cart to order drinks. "Hey, give me a hot chocolate and a beer," he ordered from the vendor.

"Zoro, I'm gonna go sit over there," Monica said to him.

"Yeah," he replied and watched her go to sit on a wooden bench several feet away. He turned his attention back to the vendor and paid for their drinks before walking over to where Monica was... But then he paused when he didn't see her nor the bench she was sitting on. "Where the fuck did she g-?"

"I'm over here you idiot!" Monica shouted when she saw that he was headed in the wrong direction. _'Directionally challenged as ever. . .'_ she thought as Zoro corrected himself and sat beside her on the bench.

"So that's why you asked me to come along," she smiled as she took her hot chocolate from him, "so that you wouldn't get lost."

"Haha, laugh it up," he responded sarcastically before he took a swig of his beer. The man could not deny that he had almost zero sense of direction.

"I will," she laughed at him and then took a sip of her hot chocolate.

He drank from his beer bottle again and watched her from the corner of his eye as she sat quietly and looked on at the cars passing by them. _'She hasn't changed at all,'_ the man thought.

"Monica," Zoro turned fully towards her.

"Yeah?" the woman answered as she turned her face to him.

"Can we pick up where we left off? Are you willing to give me a second chance?" he asked, getting straight to the point. Zoro never really was one to beat around the bush, he preferred to just beat the bush itself.

Almost instantaneously, Monica's eyes began to water while she was frozen with surprise by Zoro's request. _'WHat is this shit? Why am I crying? Are these tears of happiness?. . . Have I been waiting for this?'_

"Umm... I think you're about to cry... and I don't think what I said was sad, so are you happy that I asked you? Do you mean to tell me 'yes'?" The green-haired man was never good with tears, even in the past, he never knew what to do on those few occasions when she cried; so all he ever did do was hold her... But it had been four years, should he not try to touch her? She already wasn't happy about the last couple of times. . .

"W-what? No, I'm not- I'm not crying," Monica answered as she wiped her eyes on her sleeves. "Umm... I don't know Zoro. . . I've spent the last four years trying to forget you and everything that happened between us. And then, going back will mean that I forgive you for leaving me the way that you did. And... I don't think that I can. . ."

"But Murasa, you understand why I left, don't you?"

"No! I have no fucking clue why you left! No one I asked knew, and then- and then you just never came back... Until last Sunday, I seriously believed that you were dead!"

Zoro remained quiet; he didn't mean to hurt her when he left. _'I should've left a damn note...'_

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Well do you plan on telling me why the fuck you left?"

"Because I had to."

Monica sighed in frustration and rubbed her temples. "Zoro, what the fuck kind of answer is that?"

"An answer to your question!"

"But not a satisfactory one! 'Because I had to' is not gonna fix the years of depression and anxiety that I went through over your stupid ass!"

"I just can't tell you!"

"And why the fuck not?"

"Because..."

"Because?"

"Because it was work related stuff."

". . . So I'm assuming that it's 'top secret'?"

Zoro took another swig of his beer now that their conversation had relaxed a bit. "Exactly."

"Oh my God," Monica sighed again, this time with exasperation. "Well then why didn't you come back?"

"By the time I was finally able to, you weren't home."

"Wait, so someone at home knew that you were alive?"

The green-haired man froze, he had almost said too much. "...Well not exactly. I just made some...anonymous phone calls and found out that way."

"Oh," she responded. "So then why didn't you come find me!"

"You know how your father's entourage is. It was a pain just trying to get them to tell me if you were home or not. I didn't want to push my luck."

"It doesn't help that you were being anonymous," Monica muttered and went back to her hot chocolate. They fell into a comfortable silence now that their biggest issue was out of the way. "How about we make a deal?" Monica offered.

Zoro looked at her for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Alright. . . I will give you another chance if you can win me over."

"So we're gonna start from the beginning?"

"Yep," Monica nodded.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Zoro smirked at her and placed one of his arms around her shoulders.

"What are you doing?" she laughed.

"Don't you remember? The first time we met, we had -"

"Oh God! I remember!" Monica laughed in embarrassment to get him to stop talking.

"And then our relationship started after that," the green-haired man finished.

Still smiling, Monica removed his arm from around her. "Okay, well this time, we're gonna do this the correct way, or at least, not as backwards."

Zoro shrugged and then asked, "So is this our first date?"

"Oh... I guess so..." Monica realized and then turned to him with her hand stretched out. "I'm Monica by the way."

Her companion looked at her like she was crazy before he caught on to the joke and shook her hand. "And I'm Zoro. It's very nice to meet you."

"Likewise," she smiled at him.

"Should we start heading back? I think Pappug is tired of us," Zoro suggested as he pointed at the dog who had fallen asleep beside the bench.

"Yeah, it's getting late anyway."

Monica was in a slightly extra chipper mood this morning as she waited in the elevator to go up to her event planning office's floor. Today was Tuesday and her next day off was tomorrow, and there were only two children's birthday parties scheduled for the weekend so she would actually have a chance to relax this week.

Enthusiastic about the coming days, she hummed to herself as she exited the elevator and walked down the hall to a glass door labeled "MoRoNa Event Planning".

"Good morning, Kimi," Monica said as she crossed the lobby and passed the front desk on her way to her office.

"Good morning, Monica," Kimi, her secretary replied. Her black hair was clipped up and out of her pale face as she quickly flipped through some paperwork.

"Kimi, is this the sample for the flowers for the Rei wedding?" Monica asked as she noted the large vase of red roses on her desk.

"No, they were dropped off just this morning. The delivery boy even got here before we did. He said that there's a note that came with it," Kimi explained.

"Hmm," Monica replied as she gently dug through the bouquet in an attempt to find the note.

"Looking for this?" Nami asked as she appeared in Monica's office doorway holding a small white paper in her hand.

The purple haired woman frowned at her friend. "I can't believe you took it...give it here."

"At first I thought it was from Sanji, but then I read the note and whoever sent you this knows you as 'Murasa'," Nami explained as she passed off the note.

Monica could feel her face warm up as she blushed in embarrassment. Thankfully her dark skin prevented Nami from detecting it as she open the folded note.

"Good morning, Murasa. Do I get extra points for remembering that red roses are your favorite?"

Completely forgetting that Nami was in the room, Monica couldn't help but laugh a bit at Zoro's note. But because he asked, hell no he's not getting extra points!

"So who's it from?" Nami asked impatiently.

"Just a friend," Monica replied as she crumbled up the note and tossed it in her purse before sitting at her desk.

"Its two dozen red roses, Monica. I think this person is more than just a friend."

The purple-haired woman just shrugged as she went through some papers on her desk. "You can think whatever you want."

A malicious smile suddenly appeared on Nami's face. "You can't keep whatever's going on from me forever. I _will_ learn your secret..."

"Okay, so while you're doing that, would you mind swinging by our linen suppliers to check on our orders? And the Cardinals want to meet with you about their baby shower that's next month."

"Yeah, Kimi told me about them. After that I'm gonna go work from home."

"What? You have an office here! And I hardly ever get to see you!"

"I just like working from home," Nami shrugged. "Just stop in when you're done here. You can work from home too, you know."

"Nah, I don't like the idea of bringing my work home. The most I will do is make some phone calls, but that's it."

"Well at least you don't have any distractions..." Nami commented with some annoyance.

"What are you talking about?"

"Since Luffy's away, his idiot roommate decided to drop off Pappug at my doorstep yesterday and refuses to take him back til Luffy gets home."

'_Oh right, Zoro didn't ask me to go with him to walk Pappug last night like we did on Sunday...'_

"I mean, it's not like I don't like Pappug or anything, it's just he goes absolutely ape-shit every time he hears paper move!" Nami continued. "I literally can't bring any papers home. I mean, I can work on the computer, but there's nothing like doing math with just a paper and pencil..."

Nami really loved her numbers and that was perfect because she was so good with them. Other than being co-event planner and, the bookkeeper for their joint event planning business and Sanji's restaurants, Nami also looked over their clients budgets and even did some freelance accountant work for other people.

"That seems like more of a reason to stay here and do you work than to go home."

"Nah, when I leave I have to take the mutt for a walk anyway, so I plan on leaving at around 12."

"Ohh okay then."

"Don't be such a baby about it. I live on the floor right above you..."

"You can be really heartless sometimes..."

"Yeah whatever, I'll call you when I'm going home. Now get to work and make me some money!" Nami said as she walked towards her own office.

"I don't work _for_ you, I work _with_ you," Monica muttered after her friend and then sighed as she looked over at the roses on her desk. That was really sweet of Zoro to send her flowers. As she looked on at them, she remembered the walks that they would take through the rose gardens at her home in the past. Once when he had really pissed her off, she remembered that he had gone out to the gardens and picked out a hundred and twenty-three red roses for her, apparently one for each hour that she had been mad at him, and left them in front of her bedroom door. But the idiot had forgotten to cut off the thorns, so she was able to find him by following the trail of blood he left in and outside of her home. By the time that she found him, he was barely conscious since he had lost so much blood from all of the cuts on his hands and arms.

From her peripheral vision, she could see her phone, that was sitting a few inches away from her on her desk, light up, bringing her back from her memories.

It was a text message that read, _"Are you free tomorrow? I will be in town."_ The sender ID came up as private... but she had a vague suspicion of who it might be.

"Yeah, come by at around 2," she sent back to the mystery sender.

Monica knew that she wouldn't get an affirmation back, and that her guest will probably be showing up at her apartment by 1.30. _'Looks like I'll have two dates tomorrow... Maybe I should cancel one of them... Just in case...'_

* * *

**Wooh! That's done. **

**I wonder who else Monica is gonna see tomorrow...**

**And I apologize if their nicknames are mistrandlated and if anyone ever seems OOC.**

**Thank you all and goodnight!**


	4. Chapter 4

**HEY everyone! I think I might be a bit late, I'm sorry, I've been having some serious computer issues... and of course there is school.**

**Here is chapter 4 which is much shorter than I thought, but that's okay, I'll make up for it in another chapter.**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

******Sixième étage**

**CHAPTER 4**

_'Oi, hopefully I won't be late,'_ Zoro thought as he tossed his bag from the grocery store into his car's passenger seat.

"Welcome back, Zoro. Where would you like to go?" The feminine voice of his car's GPS asked as he turned on his car.

"Home," he answered and a digital map appeared on his dashboard and the GPS proceeded to direct the green-haired man back to his apartment building.

Some fifteen minutes later, Zoro found himself standing outside of Monica's apartment about to knock on her door, but paused when he thought he heard her laughing with someone. He pressed his ear against the door in an effort to hear what was going on. But he couldn't figure out what they were saying, just that he could hear her feminine voice and an unknown masculine one.

_'Who the fuck is that?'_ He wondered and was beginning to get agitated. Then he heard laughter again. _'What the fuck are they laughing at?! That's it...'_

And with that, Zoro pounded on the door.

"Yeah?" Monica answered the door a few seconds later. "Oh hey Zoro," she pulled her phone from her pocket and checked the time, "you're early."

"What? What time is it?"

"It's 6.30, you were supposed to be here at 8."

"Dammit," Zoro cursed.

"Well at least you're early for once," she laughed. "Come in, I have a friend over, but it's okay."

Right, the man whose voice he heard. Who is he?

Zoro followed Monica into her apartment and he could see the back of her other guest's black curly hair. The man turned around just as she was going to introduce them.

"Zoro, this is a friend of mine, Rob-"

"Lucci..." Zoro practically growled.

The man just looked at Zoro blankly in response.

"What? You two know each other?" Monica asked as she looked at the two men.

"You can say that," Lucci replied as he stood up and placed his black top hat on his head. He was just as tall as Zoro, and wore a white shirt under his black suit. "It was good seeing you Monica," he said to her and kissed her cheek before walking past Zoro without a word to him and leaving the apartment.

"What the fuck was he doing here?" Zoro questioned once Lucci was gone.

"Why are you so mad? He's a friend of mine. I can't have my friends over at my own apartment?" Monica replied.

She did have a point, this was her apartment... but damn... he did not like that guy...

"As long as your friends don't include him, I don't care," Zoro said as he placed his bag from the grocery store onto the kitchen counter.

"Wow, you're being pretty over protective for someone who's not my boyfriend," Monica bit back at him and folded her arms across her chest.

"Some habits are hard to break," Zoro replied quietly as he took a box of strawberries from the grocery bag.

Monica sighed and relaxed when she realized what he meant. "Well how did you two meet anyway?"

"I ran into him on a job. Needless to say, it didn't go over well... He works for some shady part of the World Government called CP9."

"Yeah, I was hired to throw a holiday party for a part of the World Government last year. That's how I met him."

"Oh, so you know what he does and you choose to hang out with him anyway, great," Zoro commented sarcastically as he pulled a clear bottle of vodka from the shopping bag and then went over to the kitchen sink to rinse off the strawberries.

The dark-skinned woman rolled her eyes in mock annoyance as she took out a glass bowl and toothpicks from a cabinet and placed them on the counter. "Despite the fact that I didn't know that what he did was 'shady', at least I know what he does for a living, unlike someone else I know..."

"Like I've already told you, you don't want to know what I do," he insisted and brought the rinsed strawberries back over to the counter where Monica had placed the bowl and toothpicks.

"How can you say that when I've asked you this numerous times since I first met you?" She angrily countered as she poked holes in the strawberries with a toothpick while Zoro, who remained silent, poured some of the vodka into the glass bowl.

They continued to work on their favorite treat in silence and it was a few minutes before Monica realized that he had never actually answered her question. She finished poking holes in her share of strawberries and waited as she watched him finish up his and then placed their holey strawberries into the bowl of vodka.

"Oi! Did you not hear me, Mido?" She asked of him and began poking his cheek with the strawberry juice-covered index finger on her right hand.

"Are you mad at me? Is that why you're giving me the silent treatment?" She teased him and continued to poke his cheek, even as he went to put the bowl of alcohol and strawberries into the refrigerator.

But then Zoro quickly turned the tables on her when he closed the refrigerator's door and then turned his head to catch Monica's finger in his mouth just as she was going to continue her onslaught on his face.

The young woman froze in surprise at the fact that her finger was now surrounded by Zoro's lips. She looked up into his dark eyes and the sexual tension that instantly evolved between them could have been cut with a knife as she felt his tongue move against her captured finger. He placed his hands on her hips and leaned back against the fridge, pulling her towards him until their noses were almost touching.

They remained in that position for a while, in silence, listening to each other breathe, feeling each other's touch. And in those moments, Monica could believe it; she could believe that Zoro was back in her life again and she was happy. . . and very turned on. . .

She then switched the finger that was in his mouth with another one of her strawberry covered digits. He licked the fruit off this finger too and they continued this exchange until all five fingers on her hand were clean.

He paused as he waited for her to give him some type of signal to go on. And she did when she bit down on her bottom lip and her gaze fell from his eyes to his lips, and then back up to his eyes. In an instant, Zoro closed the space between them by leaning his face towards her so that his lips captured hers as they did that first night the week before, only this time Monica was ready for him. She moved her hands up from his chest to loop around his neck, making their initial contact something less innocent as their lips knowingly moved against each other. One of Zoro's hands had slipped up under the back of her fitted black t-shirt and played with her bra straps while his other hand reached down and rested on probably his favorite part of her body: her plump apple-shaped butt.

The green-haired man's lips left hers and moved to a spot on her neck that he knew all too well. After running his tongue over the spot a few times, eliciting a few slight moans from her, he paused and whispered in her ear, "Do we have to still go out tonight?"

Monica pulled her head back from him and now had an annoyed look on her face. "Of course I still wanna go out! What kind of woman do you think I am?" she nearly shouted at him in fake anger as she stepped away from his grip and turned away from him.

Zoro's surprised look at her mini-outburst fell as he narrowed his eyes at her. "You're confusing, woman," he stated as he leaned his elbows onto the kitchen's island counter and rested his chin in one of his palms. "First you want me, and then when I offer you sex, you get all defensive like we haven't done it before."

In response, Monica simply looked back over her shoulder at him with a wink of her eye and a shadow of a smirk. She then pushed down the gray sweatpants that she had been wearing and somewhat dramatically waited for them to fall to the floor, exposing her dark-brown backside to Zoro.

"O-oi! W-what the fuck are you doing now?!" he stuttered in shock, his eyes were glued to the light-green thong she wore as she bent over to step out of and pick up her pants from the floor.

Monica didn't answer him and smiled to herself as she pulled her t-shirt off over her head and walked towards her bedroom to change into something else for their date.

Once she had turned into her room, Zoro let out an exasperated sigh. _'Such a fucking tease,'_ he thought as he remembered that Monica had always enjoyed getting a rise out him, or anyone for that matter, when she would shamelessly strip her clothes off at either random or inappropriate times, no matter who was watching .

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**Yep, much shorter than I thought, sorry about that!**

**Let's see how their date goes next chapter!**

**Goodnight!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi every one! So I need to express my deep concerns and worries about the fact that as I was recently scrolling through other OP stories, I encountered some stories that have already gotten around to publishing ideas that I've been throwing around in my head these last few months. Should I be worried about this? I was feeling very good about the seeming "originality" of my ideas but now... I just hope people don't start thinking that I'm biting off their style when I get to my similar parts... But on the other hand, I shouldn't care because all great minds think alike, right?**

**Ughhh...**

**Well with that, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I sure enjoyed writing it!**

* * *

**********Sixième étage**

**CHAPTER 5**

"I think maybe you should stop hanging out with Robin and Nami..." Zoro said as they walked out of their apartment building.

"What makes you say that?" Monica asked. They continued walking down the street instead of going to their building's parking garage for one of their cars.

"Did you _not_ look in the mirror before we left?" Zoro bluntly responded.

"And what's wrong with the way that I'm dressed?"

"The fact that you're barely wearing clothes!"

"I'm totally wearing clothes!" Monica defended and pointed at herself. She changed out of her t-shirt and sweatpants into a black tube top that exposed most of her slightly toned torso, a black sleeveless cardigan, short denim shorts, black thigh-high stockings, and black combat boots. "Most guys wouldn't be complaining."

"I wouldn't be either... if you didn't wear that out of the house," Zoro explained.

His companion gave him a sly look. "Heh heh heh! Somebody's jealous!"

Truth be told, he honestly didn't care what she wore, but that was before they got out onto the street and he saw the looks that other men were giving her. "I don't think that it's jealousy... I just really don't like that other guys are staring at you like you the way that Luffy looks at meat."

"I think that's called jealousy," Monica mockingly whispered to him. "Maybe you should hold my hand; let 'em know that you're mine."

Zoro smirked at her as he took her hand in his. "You mean that _you're _mine."

"Nope, I don't think I messed up. You're mine," she repeated.

"No, you're mine. And that's that," Zoro stated simply.

Monica turned to him and smiled. "Where are we going anyway?"

"A bar."

"Oohh fancy. You really know how to treat a girl," the purple-haired woman replied sarcastically. She then remembered who she was with and asked, "We are going the right way, right?"

"Of course," he answered with full confidence in himself.

"Zoro, seriously..." She knew him, and she knew that no matter how sure he might've felt about whatever direction he would be traveling in, he could easily be dead wrong.

"I've been here nearly every night since me & Luffy moved here."

"What's the name of the place?" Monica asked him, she really didn't have any faith in him. They had been walking for a while now and she estimated that they were maybe ten blocks from their building.

"The Den... or something like that."

"I've lived here for almosty 2 years and I've never heard of such a place," she commented as she pulled out her phone to look for directions.

Zoro simply shrugged. "It might be new and it's underground and kind of grungy."

"And you thought that would be an appropriate place to take me on our second date?"

"Well I guess it worked out, I can't really take you anywhere else when you're dressed like that."

"Oi! I wouldn't have been mad if you gave me an idea of where we were going so I could dress for it!"

"Oh look, we're here," Zoro stated when he suddenly stopped in front of a plain brown door.

"Are you sure? There's no sign... It seems like the sketchy kind of place where someone could get raped..." Monica muttered mostly to herself.

"Hey! I'd never let that happen to you, okay?" Zoro nearly shouted at her.

Monica was taken aback by his tone. "Woah, calm down. I wasn't trying to insult your competence in keeping me safe or anything, I was just making a joke..."

"Well that's not something you should joke about."

"Okay, I get it..." she apologized, completely regretting what she said.

"Come on, let's just go," Zoro said harshly and he pulled her through the unnamed door.

_'Great, now he's upset...'_ Monica mentally sighed as she followed Zoro down a long staircase and through a second plain brown door that opened up into a dimly lit bar scene with rock music that was being blasted throughout the space.

Zoro turned to their left towards the long bar counter that stretched the length of the wall and greeted a large man who she assumed was the guy in charge or something. They exchanged some words but Monica couldn't hear what they were saying over the music and the sounds of some men towards the back who were playing a rather aggressive game of pool.

She had been to bars like this before and she had enjoyed herself those times. This is the type of place where bikers and criminals would come, and it was usually for one reason...

"The alcohol here is cheap and good!" Zoro smiled at her and passed her a bottle of beer before leading her over to an empty booth towards the right side of the room. He sat on one side and she sat across from him on the other side of the table.

"Of course! What other reason would you have for coming here so much?" Monica laughed at him before taking a swig of her beer. "How'd you find out about this place anyway?"

"Ace brought me and Luffy here a couple of times," he answered after swallowing a large portion of his beer.

"But Ace doesn't even live in this town, plus he's hardly ever over here."

Zoro just shrugged in response and a few swallows later, he slammed his bottle onto the table with a satisfied sigh.

_'Robin probably brought Ace here for some type of social observation nonsense or something,'_ Monica thought to herself as she looked at the other people in the bar. They were a rough looking crowd, especially considering that it was a little after 7pm on a Wednesday. She then turned her attention back to Zoro. His hand was raised and he seemed to be making some sort of hand signals towards the bar.

"Was that your first drink of the day?" She asked him noting his empty beer bottle.

"Yeah it was actually," he answered her as a waiter came over and placed a pitcher of beer in front of Zoro and a large platter of wings and curly fries between them on the table that Zoro immediately began to dig into.

"Actually, can I have one of those pitchers, too?" Monica asked of the waiter who nodded in response and left to go get it.

Zoro paused in his attack on the chicken wings and looked up at her with a smirk. "Do you think you can take me on, Murasa?"

The young woman finished off her bottle of beer before she replied. "Oh, I _know_ that I can take you on, Mido," she challenged him and ate a curly fry from the platter just as the waiter returned with her beer.

"Are you sure about this? Last time I drank you under the table... Literally, you crawled under the table and took a nap." The green-haired man couldn't help but laugh at the memory.

"That was four years ago, Mido. I would like to think that I've gotten a bit better at holding my alcohol."

"We'll see about that, Murasa. Just don't overdo it, I don't want to have to try to carry you up all those damn steps later," he smirked at her. "But let's eat first, I'm starving."

- - - SEVERAL PITCHERS OF BEER LATER- - -

"Oi! Are you doing alright over there, Murasa?" Zoro asked of her after finishing his eleventh pitcher. The poor girl got halfway through her fifth before she suddenly erupted in a fit of laughter.

_'Well this contest is over,'_ Zoro thought as he watched her completely lose it.

"I-I haff to pee sooo badly!" She informed him and then continued to laugh.

"Hey, calm down. You might throw up everything you just drank."

Monica covered her mouth in an effort to subdue her laughing but her giggles still rolled out. "Seriously though, do they have a bathroom?"

"Yeah, it's somewhere in the back," he told her as he pointed behind her. Just past the bar, there was an archway with a lit sign stating "RESTROOMS" above it.

"I will be right back, Mido," she said to him with a wide drunken smile as she clumsily scooted out of her bench on her side of the table and then nearly ran in the direction that he pointed her in.

Zoro just sighed and shook his head as she watched her go. _'Crazy woman,'_ he thought as he picked up her half-filled pitcher of beer and finished it off for her. He then munched on a curly fry as he allowed himself to relax into the oncoming haziness that all of that booze would soon be delivering to him. But in what felt like only a few seconds later, he saw Monica's shape as she shakily walked back over to their table

"Soooo, what are we doing next?" she sang as she leaned on her elbows on the table towards him.

"We are gonna start making our way out of here," he answered her as he stood up and pulled some cash out of his pocket.

"Ooo, can we bring the rest of the fries with us?" she asked as she picked up the platter from the table a bit too eagerly and nearly dropped it on the floor.

"Yeah, if you're sober enough to not drop it all on the floor." Now on his feet, Zoro could really feel the effects of the alcohol, but was still mindful enough to help Monica not fall over with their leftover food as they walked over to the bar. He paid the barman who then handed them a styrofoam container and then watched with amusement as Monica and Zoro attempted to get as many fries into the container as they could without wasting them on the floor.

"Oi! Just use your hands!" the taller man said to his companion as he reached over to the platter to follow through with his idea.

"Shut up! I don't want your icky hands all over my food." Monica, who had already been swaying as she tried to tip the platter at just the right angle so that the food would just slide off of it, leaned a bit too far back out of his grasp and almost tipped over the bar stool that was behind her. Thankfully Zoro still had enough coordination to grab onto her arm to steady her and the barman who had been watching quickly took the platter from Monica's hands and, with a fork, cleared the rest of the fries into the container.

"Calm down, dammit," Zoro said to her as he pulled her upright and paid the bar tender.

The purple-haired woman just smiled at him. "I am calm," she responded and turned to the barman as she took the container. "Thank you, sir." And with that she swayed her way towards the steps.

"Do you have any beer?" Monica asked as Zoro let her into the apartment that he shared with Luffy.

"Of course I do, but not for you," he answered after he locked the door and went into the kitchen.

Monica followed him and punched his arm. "You're a shitty date!"

"And you punch like a drunk little girl," the green-haired man responded as he poured water into two glasses. "You know the deal. Drink it."

"But I don't want water," she replied as she dropped the container of leftovers on the counter.

Zoro sighed in annoyance, he was really feeling the tingling effects of the alcohol now and he was starting to get tired. "If you don't drink it - -"

"Then I'll wake up with a hangover. Yeah, yeah, yeah," she mocked and chugged the glass of water that he gave her. "Who are you? My mother?"

"Very funny," he grumbled and downed his own glass of water before putting his and Monica's glasses in the sink. He remained silent as he walked past her and went to the bathroom.

"Mido, are you mad at me?" Monica asked in a sad voice as she followed him. The bathroom door was already closed behind him so she just pressed her head against it and knocked while she called: "Mido?... Mido?... Mido?... Miiiiido?"

"I'm not mad at you," Zoro's deep voice responded back through the closed door. "You're drunk. Go to bed so I can finish up in here."

"Okay!" she responded happily and walked into what she remembered to be Zoro's room and kicked off her boots. While she waited for him, Monica hummed to herself as she went around the room being nosy.

"What are you doing?" Zoro asked her when he walked in. He was now wearing just a pair of sweatpants instead of the t-shirt and jeans that he had on before.

"Nothin'," Monica sang. She had been in his closet and had just finished pulling on a hoodie that she found that was a bit too big for her and fell just below the hemline of her shorts. It was all black and had the image of a large seven point gold star on its front. "You still have this," she commented as her hand ran along a hole on one of the sleeves. She vaguely remembered how the hole got there: A few years back, she may have stabbed him in the arm with a knife while he was wearing it.

"Yeah and you still need to stitch up that hole for me," Zoro smirked at her as he tossed his dirty clothes in a nearby basket before getting into his bed.

Monica went to lie in the bed next to him. "Remind me in the morning," she said as she slid off her shorts and tossed them at the end of the bed with the cardigan that she took off earlier.

"Okay," the man lying on his back next to her yawned. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight?! But I'm not tired!" she replied as she sat up.

"Oi! Why are you screaming? I'm right here!" Zoro groaned keeping his eyes shut. "Just go to sleep."

"Haha! Never!" she laughed and started to poke him all over his bare torso. "Zoro! Zoro! Zoro-sa!" She knew that he wasn't ticklish, and even though the room was completely dark save for the light from the street lights outside shining in through the large windows, she also knew that Zoro was glaring daggers at her for keeping him from his much desired slumber.

The man growled at her as he covered his ears with his pillow and rolled on his side to turn away from her. "Go. To. Sleep."

But his drunk companion continued on with her poking onslaught on his back and laughed at him. After a few minutes, she stopped and leaned towards his pillow-covered ear and shouted "Roronoa Zoro!" before she fell into another fit of laughter.

"That's it!"

"Ahh! No no no no no!" Monica shrieked as she tried to get away when Zoro turned back to her. But she was too slow and he managed to grab hold of her by her waist, kicking and laughing.

"Shut up!" Zoro laughed as he pulled her body closer to his and then dropped his chest right on top of hers.

"Shit! You're heavier than I remember! Get off!"

"I'll move when you go to sleep," he mumbled as he nuzzled his face against her neck.

"Please, you'll fall asleep before... I do, " she replied, but before she could even finish, his breathing had already evened off and he was knocked out.

"Oye," Monica sighed as she managed to get her arms free from under his body and rested them on his upper back. She sighed again as she stared up at the dark ceiling, realizing that her buzz was officially killed off. She was trapped. She was trapped under this man's heavy, muscular body. His muscular body that was radiating all types of lovely warmth.

She moved her arms so that she now had a tighter hold around his neck with one of her hands running through his hair. "So soft," she mumbled as she pressed her cheek against his head. She inhaled his familiar scent of warm metal and remembered all of the nights that they had spent together. That first time that the slept in the same bed together was by accident though; neither of them were expecting Zoro to stay over that night . . .

*~*~*~A FEW YEARS AGO~*~*~*

_-TAP-_

_-TAP-_

_'What the fuck is that?'_ Monica wondered as she looked up from the book she was reading. She turned her head to look out of the dark window of her room. Night had fallen some time ago, and although it was dark outside, she could almost make out the sight of a small rock hitting it as another _TA__P_ sounded.

She paused for a moment to see if another rock would come flying to her window, and when it did, she got up from her bed to see what was going on.

"Oi! Let me in!" Zoro yelled to her in a hushed whisper from outside, two stories below her. There was honestly no point for him to whisper, the summer crickets were loud enough to cover the sound of his normal speaking voice from anyone else to hear.

"What are you doing outside?" Monica wondered as she opened the window and leaned on the sill. "We locked up hours ago..."

Zoro folded his arms across his chest and turned away from her in embarrassment. "I took a walk and had a hard time getting back..."

"Oh! You got lost!" the young woman in the window exclaimed with a smile.

"Oi! Shut up! I didn't get lost! I said I had a hard time getting back!" Zoro retaliated. "I ran into some whacked out animals in the woods!"

Monica just openly fell out into laughter at him. "Was that before or after you got lost?"

The green-haired man tried to restrain his frustration with her and shouted back, "Just let me in, dammit!"

"But I don't feel like going downstairs now," she responded; her voice void of sympathy.

The poor man was really trying to not lose his temper. If anything, he was the tired one and all she had to do was help him out. "So then just through me a rope or something!"

"Who the fuck am I? Rapunzel?"

"I said a rope! Not your hair!"

"Why the fuck would I keep a rope in my room? What kind of girl do you think I am?"

"MONICA!" Zoro shouted at her with anger.

"Geez, keep your pants on," Monica replied as she rolled her eyes and stepped away from the window. A couple of minutes later, she returned with a large bundle of fabric in her arms. "You're gonna have to climb up quickly, I tied this to the leg of my dresser and I don't think it can hold you weight," she said before tossing a rope made of knotted sheets out of the window.

It stopped at his waist and Zoro gave it a few tugs before using it to help him climb up the cobblestone walls of his temporary home.

"Here, hold my swords," he said once he was close enough to the windowsill to remove his prized possessions from the haramaki around his waist and passed them to her.

"Damn these things are heavy..." Monica commented as she took his precious swords from him and went to lean them against a wall but one of them slipped from her grasp.

"Oi! Don't let them drop!" Zoro shouted at her when he heard the sound of the moving sheath.

"Shut up! Someone's gonna hear you!" Monica panicked at the loud man and went to cover his mouth, but she forgot that she was still holding his swords as she rushed over to him and only succeeded in knocking him from his spot.

"UGH!" was all that escaped from Zoro's lips as the wind was knocked out of his lungs when he landed on his back on the hard ground.

"Shit! Are you okay?" Monica asked with concern as she leaned out the window. "Zoro?"

"Ugghhh..."

"Dammit," she cursed and leaned his swords against the wall before grabbing a bottle of water she had that she poured out of the window onto him. "Zoro! Wake up!"

"Stop it with the water! I'm fine!" He coughed once the liquid hit his face.

"How can you be fine if you just fell from the second floor?"

"I've had worse falls," Zoro commented as he slowly got up and started the climb up the wall again. He groaned in pain as he climbed over the windowsill and into Monica's room.

"Oh not again, Zoro," she sighed at him when she saw all of the cuts on his arms.

"I told you, crazy animals..." he replied as he pulled her sheets up from the window and let them fall on the floor at his feet. "Well, thanks. Goodnight," he finished and turned to leave.

"Gah! No!" Monica ran over to him to block his path. "The last thing I need is someone seeing you come out of my room at this time of night, especially if it's my crazy sister who spots you," she explained as she walked to her closet. "Go sit on the bed. But take your pants and shirt off."

"Oi, I don't know if I'm feeling much up for sex, but I'll give you my all," the green-haired man smirked as he heeded her requests and stripped down to his boxers. But his smile quickly faded when a plastic container suddenly collided with his head. "What the fuck was that for?!"

"For being a smart ass! I just don't want your muddy and bloody clothes all over my bed!" Monica explained as she walked back over to him.

"Hnn..." was the only sound that came from him as he sleepily rested his chin in his hand and let her go to work with treating all of the cuts and bruises on his now bare chest and arms. With a yawn, it was hard for him to keep his eyes open as they scanned her room. The red walls and brown furniture were all familiar to him; he had been in here some four or five times before since he ended up on this weird ass island...

A second yawn escaped him.

Or was it the third?

Four. . . Five . . .Six. . . Six sheep. . .

Sheep. Sleep. Man, was he sleepy.

When was the last time he took a nap?

" ... I mean I guess I can steal some of my sister's stuff for a while. I don't think she'll notice," Monica continued on. "I'm gonna need you to take care of that for me tomorrow please. . . Zoro?" She looked up to from her work to find that Zoro had fallen asleep in his upright position. She just looked at him with a small smile and shook her head as she finished up the last bandage before pushing his unconscious body over so that he was now sleeping with his back on the bed.

The purple-haired woman stretched with a yawn of her own and then went to put away her first aid kit before grabbing a blanket from her closet to throw over the sleeping man. She then carefully stepped onto her queen-sized bed from its base, since it was pushed into a corner, and curled up in the empty spot between Zoro and the wall.

_'I'll probably regret this in the morning,'_ she thought as she listened to his soft breathing.

She noted that he surprisingly didn't smell all sweaty and disgusting... but instead he smelled warm and like metal.

_'He spends too much time with those swords...' _was Monica's finally thought before she fell asleep.

* * *

**There you go guys! I still don't know why, but I did like writing this chapter, actually, so far, this story has been enjoyable for me to write, I guess it's because the show itself is so funny.**

**I hope I've still got you guys' attention! Thanks for reading and see you next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**LOL So I had noo intentions on being so late with this update... shit chapter 6 snuck the fuck up on me... Fuck you school and procrastination!**

**Well anyways, here it is OH! And LEMON WARNING! I attempted to make some lemonade or what have you and I'm not too sure about how it turned out. I think this is my first lemon... Yeah, wow, I think it is.**

**THANK**** YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR LOVELY REVIEWS!**

**Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**Sixième étage**

**CHAPTER 6**

Monica woke up to the very loud noise of someone sawing wood.

_'Who the fuck-'_ she started to wonder but stopped when she remembered that she was trapped under a sleeping Zoro and that the sounds of sawing wood were actually his snores in her ear.

"Zoro... Heyyy Zoro," Monica said as she poked him on his neck in an effort to wake him.

The man just swatted her hand away from him in his sleep.

"Zoro, I need you to wake up," Monica pressed with some urgency and tried to shove him off her by his shoulders. She had just realized that she had no idea what time it was.

"Go back to sleep," Zoro mumbled as he shifted his weight from Monica's body to his side and pulled her close to him by her waist so that her back against his chest.

"Zoro..." she whined and attempted to pry his arms from around her. "I have to get to work."

He opened one of his eyes in surprise. "I thought you had off today."

"No, that was yesterday," his purple-haired companion took advantage of the distraction and slipped herself from his arms and off the bed.

Zoro sat up on the bed and rubbed his eyes with a yawn. "Really? What day is it?"

"Thursday," Monica answered as she pulled off his hoodie and shook out her hair.

"Oh... okay then," Zoro replied and laid back down.

She looked at him in disbelief. "So you go back to sleep? Don't you have somewhere to be? Like at work?"

"Not til later," the man sleepily answered from his bed.

Monica narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance and then went into his closet.

After listening to her rustle through his clothes for about a minute, he sat up again to see what she was up to. "What are you doing?"

"I need something to wear," she answered as she stepped from the closet wearing one of his black dress shirts that stopped just above her knees with one of his belts fastened around her waist.

"Don't you live down the hall?"

"Yeah, but I don't have time for that. Your toothbrush is the green one right?" She replied as she walked to the bathroom.

"Oi! Don't use my toothbrush!" Zoro shouted as he hopped out of his bed and followed her, but it was too late, she had already started brushing her teeth.

"I don undershtand what the prwoblem ish," Monica said with her mouth full of toothpaste. "We dahted for almosht two years and I yushed your toobrush bachk then too."

He groaned in frustration; she was right, they had shared a lot of things in the past...

"Wait, so does this mean that I won?"

Monica rinsed the toothpaste out of her mouth and went back into Zoro's room to put on her boots. "Won what?"

"You. Remember? You said that if I could win you over, you'd give me a second chance," Zoro reminded her with a smirk. "And I think I've won you back since you _did _spend the night in my bed, you're wearing my clothes, _and_ using my toothbrush."

She looked up from lacing her boots and thought about what he had just said.

_'Shit,'_ she thought when she realized that he was right. "We'll talk about it later," she said quickly as she grabbed her wallet and keys from a pocket in the shorts she had worn the night before. "I have to get my clothes back anyway."

"I won't forget," Zoro replied with a smirk.

Monica rolled her eyes and smiled. "I'll see you later then," she said before walking out of his room. Zoro just nodded before going back to bed.

"Oye! Good morning Moni-chan," Luffy greeted her as she walked by him.

"Oh, hey Luffy," she said back to him with some nervousness. "I didn't know you'd be back today..."

"Yeah, we were actually supposed to come back tonight but we managed to get an earlier trip in," the young man explained.

"Ohh I see..."

"Are you wearing Zoro's shirt?"

"Well look at the time, I'm late for work! I'll see you later bye!" And with that, Monica ran out of the apartment and was off to work.

- - -LATER THAT DAY- - -

"I hope you haven't been walking around all day with that grin on your face. You look like a pompous jerk," Monica said as she let Zoro into her apartment. She had gotten home from work a couple of hours ago and earlier that day, they had agreed to meet up when she got in.

"What? I can't be happy?" the man asked with his smug smile still in place as he walked in carrying a couple of plastic bags.

"I never said that; you can be as happy as you want. I just wanted to let you know what your happiness might look like to other people," she explained as she closed the door behind him. "Why are you so happy anyway?"

"You know why," Zoro's grin widened as he went to the small round dinner table and started to pull take out food containers from one of the bags.

Monica could see just how excited he was getting about their deal and being given a second chance, but honestly, it scared her a bit. All day long she was lost in her head, worrying about what it would be like to have Zoro back as her boyfriend in the new life she created for herself since he left. That, and she couldn't believe that she had caved so quickly. It was as though they were continuing from where they left off; like their four year separation never even happened. But there really wasn't anything wrong with that, right? Everything was going to work out?

"You're not gonna even guess?" His deep voice woke her from her thoughts; she didn't realize how long she had tuned out for.

"Hmmm... are you excited for dinner?" Monica asked with mock ignorance.

"Nope."

"Hmmm," she thought as she walked over to her refrigerator and pulled out a plate of chocolate covered strawberries. "Are you excited for these? Since we forgot about them last night, I think about five of these babies will have enough vodka for me and then you can have the rest."

Zoro was now standing in front of her and placed his hands on her hips. "I thought that you were dessert."

"I _might_ be dessert... after dinner and dessert number one," Monica explained with a smile and stuffed a vodka filled strawberry in his mouth. "I still haven't agreed to anything yet."

The green-haired man lost his excitement and could not express his frustration with her because he now had to chew the fruit that she shoved into his mouth. So for those moments, all he could do was follow her back to the dinner table so they could begin to eat.

"Oh, and thanks for bringing my clothes back," Monica said as she removed the unopened plastic bag from the table and put the plate of strawberries in its place.

"No problem," Zoro managed before he swallowed his strawberry. "And I'm sure that I will have my clothes back by tonight."

"Mmm, I don't know, I kinda really like the way your shirt looks on me," she replied as she picked up and inspected a chocolate covered strawberry.

"Well you know me, I think you look best when you don't have anything on. So whether or not I actually get my clothes back, I can at least be sure that you won't be wearing them for much... long...er." His attempt at a suggestive comment failed as he watched a piece of chocolate from Monica's strawberry chip away and fall into her exposed cleavage. He no longer cared about what he was saying, nor about the bowl of lo mein sitting in front of him on the table.

"Oh crap," Monica mumbled as she looked down at where the chocolate fell before shrugging and eating the rest of her fruit. "Damn that's alot of vodka... Oye, Mido, are you okay?"

Zoro's dark eyes were still hungrily trained on her as he stated, "You have 5 minutes to eat all that you want."

"W-wait, what?" she stuttered in response as her eyes widened. It had been a long time since she had heard him give her commands when his voice was that deep and husky, and she knew exactly what was going through his mind.

"Or we could just skip dinner altogether..." he replied when the idea suddenly hit him.

"Nah chill, I'm hungry. You're just gonna have to be patient, " Monica told him as she slowly and dramatically brought a fried dumpling to her lips and slightly parted them to allow her tongue to guide the piece of food into her mouth. "Mmmm," she sighed in satisfaction as she chewed her dumpling.

Poor Zoro could hardly contain himself enough to stay in his seat. Monica knew that he knew exactly what she was doing

_'She's such a fucking tease...'_

and what it was doing to him.

_'...A tease that I just want to pin against a wall and fuck til we're both senseless...'_

"Whoops!" Monica said as a dumpling slipped from her grasp and rolled under the table towards Zoro. "Can you get that please?"

He just rolled his eyes at her before he moved under the table to do as she asked. Once he had the piece of food in his hand, his gaze wandered and fell on her two shoe-less feet that were each wrapped around either of the front two legs of her chair as they bounced to some rhythm that he couldn't hear. His eyes trailed further up her legs, that were still covered in her black thigh highs, until they froze when they landed on the space between her thighs that was barely covered by his shirt that she wore.

-BAM-

"Shit!" Zoro cursed after he hit his head on the underside of the table when he moved to sit upright again.

"Ahahahaha!" Monica laughed at him as she ate another strawberry.

"Really? You think you're funny, don't you?" The green-haired man asked as he sat back in his seat correctly, rubbing his head.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bullshit." The word rolled from his throat like a deep growl as he walked over to her and took her chin in his hand and leaned down to bring her lips to his.

She turned her body towards him so that her arm rested on the back of her chair as she felt him run his tongue against her lips. After making him wait a bit longer, she parted them for him and he went to work tasting and licking off whatever chocolate was left on her lips.

Other than it being a fun way to get drunk, this was the other reason why they made the vodka filled chocolate covered strawberries. The taste of certain foods when they were licked off eachother's bodies always intensified their sexual experiences.

**WARNING:: LEMON ::WARNING:: LEMON ::WARNING:: LEMON**

**You have been warned, and if you don't like lemon, you are done reading this chapter**

**Hasta luego!**

A deep felt purr escaped from her when Zoro took his free hand and pressed it against the uncovered flesh between her thighs.

"That's it. Keep purring for me, kitten," he whispered as he turned her head away so that his mouth could have better access to the left side of her neck. While his tongue went to work massaging the spot between her neck and shoulder, his fingers were still expertly fondling her clit and the lips that surrounded them.

"Shit," Monica called out in a strange mixture of a moan and a hiss as her nails dug into the table and chair. This was followed by a gasp when her lover slipped two of his fingers into her, curved them up a bit against her inner walls, and then pulled her towards him until she reached the edge of her seat.

The purple-haired woman hated that she would always turn to mush whenever Zoro got his hands and lips on her, but at the same time, she could not deny that she loved absolutely ever single second of ecstasy that he gave her. She was getting light head while her mind simultaneously traveled everywhere and nowhere; every inch of her body was consumed in a strong tingling sensation, especially in the area right between her thighs; they felt the most pleasure out of anywhere else on her being.

"A-Ah! AH!" She shrieked when he pushed his fingers deeper within her. She then felt his hand leave from her chin and then roughly push up against her breasts as his head dipped down and his tongue started moving in her cleavage, probably going after the piece of chocolate from before.

But then suddenly, he stopped. Zoro lifted his head from her cleavage and pulled his fingers out of her and stepped back.

"Woah! Did I say stop and not realize it?" Monica asked in confusion.

Her companion remained silent as he walked away from her while he licked her juices from his fingers.

Monica narrowed her eyes at him. What the fuck was his deal? Sure she teased him a bit by not wearing any underwear, but not as seriously as he had just done. What he did was cruel!

"Hey! Get back here!" She yelled at him as she followed him towards her room. She jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and he caught her legs around his waist. "Fuck me, dammit!"

A very satisfied smirk was planted on Zoro's lips when he heard her words. He loved when she demanded it from him. "As you wish," he said and in one swift move, he flipped her off his back and tossed her onto her bed. Despite the terrified shriek she gave as she went airbone, Monica's lips were turned up in a wide smile when she landed on her back with her feet towards her pillows and her head near the bottom. She loved it when he manhandled her.

Zoro, who was still standing at the foot of the bed, bent down and captured her lips again. After a few moments, he pulled away from her and started to pull off his black t-shirt. Monica turned herself over and sat on the edge of the bed where she excitedly watched him strip in front of her.

When he was left in just his green and white stripped boxers that had a distinct point to them, they smiled at each other before he stepped between her parted legs and kissed her for a third time. Their lips moved against each other more eagerly this time, each savoring the other's taste since it had been a while since they were able to be so intimate.

Their kisses slowed as Zoro began to unbutton the shirt that Monica was wearing. She watched him while he worked and from the dim stream of light coming in from outside of her room, she could see how the muscles in his arms flexed as he moved. She could also see the scars that decorated his body; each one presenting itself as something of a badge of his achievements, especially his biggest scar. She hated the giant scar that ran diagonally across his chest; every time she saw it, she would feel guilty.

The green-haired man had finished with her shirt and watched as Monica reached towards him and gently touched his huge scar. He knew how she felt about it and even after all of this time, he couldn't understand why. "It's not your fault, Murasa. We didn't even know each other when I got it," Zoro reassured her and gave her a soft kiss. "And if I never got it, I would have never met you."

Monica gave him a small smile as she shook off the shirt. "Oh my goodness, you're making sense. Should I be worried?"

Zoro shrugged with a smile of his own and said, "Maybe." And with that, he started trailing kisses down her neck and across her collarbone, pausing only to pick her up and move her further back on the bed. When he realized that she was still wearing it, Zoro undid the hooks on her bandeau bra top and let it fall away, fully exposing her breasts to him. He took a moment to admire them by massaging them with his hands, enjoying the sounds that his actions elicited from her and the realization that both of her chocolate colored boobs were a bit bigger than his hands.

Once he was finished being gentle, he lowered his mouth onto her right nipple and, while still massaging her other breast, he began a series of licking, sucking, and biting that had Monica pulling on his hair and moaning uncontrollably. He switched his attention to her other breast for a few minutes before he lightly nibbled every inch of her torso down to her belly button while his hands moved down the length of her body until they stopped and massaged her inner thighs. He was going to move his mouth even further down, but was stopped when she took his face in her hands and brought it back up to hers.

"Fuck me," she panted before she kissed him. Monica was already close to her limit, she had no idea where she was or which way was up, but she did not give a fuck. Actually, she didn't know if she could give a fuck if she tried. Her head was still spinning from the sensory overload of his skin on hers, the sounds of their labored breathing, and the feeling of boiling water running just under her skin. But she did know that her body was seriously craving his cock and that if he continued to just play around with her, she'd be spent before they really even started anything. Zoro was fully aware of this too and admittedly didn't want to prolong the inevitable either, so without breaking the kiss, his hands knowingly moved to his boxers and pulled out his large, hardened member.

Monica pushed his face away from hers and smiled. "Ahahaha! Yes!" She laughed in ecstasy when she felt him press the tip of his penis against her clit. He then grabbed her chin with his right hand and pushed his tongue back into her mouth while his left hand lifted her hips towards his before he guided himself into her.

Her high-pitched squeal and his deep groan when he entered her were muffled by his mouth, and he remained there as he paused and enjoyed the feeling of his dick being surrounded by her wet, hot flesh.

"Damn, you're tighter than I remembered," he muttered into her lips. As a response, she rotated her hips against his, making him gasp at her sudden movement. He removed his hand from her chin and used it to support him on the bed so that he could push his face away from hers, breaking their kiss, and look down at her and chuckle; she hadn't completely lost her wits yet.

A smirk was firmly plastered on Zoro's lips while he watched the woman beneath him shut her eyes and gasp and moan as he pulled his hips back from hers, just enough so that only the tip of his head was still inside of her, and then began a series of slow thrusts. Once he had his rhythm going, he took the hand that held her hips and moved it to return to rubbing her clit, knowing that it was just a matter of time before she came. He could see it in the way that she gripped her pillow with one hand and dug her nails into his arm that was supporting him on the bed with her other hand. He could hear it in both of their heavy breathing and the incoherent curses that she moaned above the sounds of the creaking bed. And he could feel it in the way that Monica wildly shoved her hips back at him just before her body seized around his cock as she came before beginning its own movements that coaxed on his orgasm.

Not wanting to wait until Monica had finished riding out her first orgasm, Zoro removed his hand from her clit and used to it give his body full support on the bed as he quickened the pace of his thrusts against her convulsions. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body closer to his just before she screamed as she came for a second time.

It was this round that got him and with a deep, almost inhuman growl of his own, he came just as he was moving to pull out of her.

"Shit," he cursed through his labored breath. He looked down between them and saw that his now unsheathed manhood was still relieving itself while a white liquid was flowing from her.

Monica loosened are grasp from around his neck and opened her eyes to follow his gaze. "Fuck it," she breathed and then reached her hand between them to scoop up some of their mixed fluids and licked it from her fingers. "Besides, I like the way that your hot cum feels in my pussy."

Whatever relaxation Zoro was beginning to feel as his body came down from his orgasm was completely gone when she spoke those words. The seductive sound in her voice and the mischievous look in her amber eyes gave him another hard on.

"Oh really?" he replied, his own voice sounding deep and lustful.

She nodded, "Really."

"Are you sure?" Zoro asked her before he kissed her.

"Mhmm," Monica affirmed against his lips.

He broke their kiss and looked at her, "What was that? I didn't hear you."

"I said, absoult- Aahh!" Her words were cut off when he caught her off guard and pushed his length back into her and they started their night all over again.

* * *

**Hey everyone! I hope that was hot and steamy enough for you! **

**I'm not sure if i'll be able to update by next week, but I will definitely be back!**

**SEE YOU ALL NEXT TIME!**


	7. Chapter 7

Hello** everyone! I Know it's been way too long, blame school and work and my internship. But it's summer now so hopefully I can get at least 3 more chapters out. **

**I apologize for any mistakes in this chapter, I've typed the entire thing on my phone and an even uploading it from my phone too which is great because my laptop is being screwy. . .**

**Well anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and that I haven't lost any of you readers yet. I'm sorry for the long wait! **

* * *

**Sixieme Etage**

**Chapter 8**

"What's so funny?" Zoro asked before taking a bite of his hot dog.

"I just can't picture you being good with kids!" Monica laughed beside him.

"Why aeh you so suhprised?" He wondered with his mouth full of his food.

His companion just looked at him for a moment before laughing again.

"Wheirdo," he mumbled before turning his attention back to his food.

Zoro and Monica were out on a date that night. It had been almost three weeks since they "officially" got back together and they decided to act like a "normal" couple and go out on their dates. All those years ago when they were first dating, they didn't have too many options in where they spent their time together. Most of the time they stayed in their home or would take excursions out into the surrounding forest. But now, they were living in a big city filled with restaurants and parks that they could visit. As long as they avoided their mutual friends, who still had no idea of their relationship, of course.

"I mean, I get that you run a dojo since you love your swords. But when you factor in kids... it just doesn't make sense," Monica explained and then took a sip of her smoothie.

"I still don't get it," Zoro replied dryly.

"You don't seem like someone who would even like kids, let alone want to teach them."

"Oh," the green-haired man said as he rolled his eyes. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Yeah it is! You can be such a brute, how do kids like you?"

"I don't know," he shrugged.

Monica laughed at him again. "Well hurry up and finish eating, you're so slow," she said as she slid off the stone half wall that she was sitting on.

"Don't rush me, woman," Zoro replied as he tossed the napkin that held his hot dog in the garbage and moved to grab her from behind around her waist and pressed his lips against her cheek.

"Get away from me with your smelly, sauerkraut breath!" She shouted as she tried to move her face away from him.

Zoro kissed her cheek again and then blew into her face before he took her hand in his and continued walking.

"You're so gross!" Monica exclaimed as she covered her nose and allowed him to pull her along. "No wonder why you get along with the kids at your dojo, you can be such a fucking child!"

Her green-haired boyfriend just responded with a satisfied smirk, even as Monica shoved her smoothie in his face for him to drink.

"You're not funny, Zoro."

"What? I thought that was your favorite thing about me?"

Monica gave him an angry glare in response as they kept on walking. They had spent the last couple of hours wandering around a carnival that had arrived just outside of the city a few days earlier and they were hoping to spend some time together since they were both so busy that week.

Nearly half an hour had passed since they finished eating and Monica still hadn't said a word.

'_She can't really be that mad, could she?_' Zoro wondered as he stole a glance at her. But he knew his answer when she saw the deep scowl she wore on her face as she kept her gaze ahead of her.

'_Shit...'_ he inwardly cursed with agitation. What exactly had he done wrong? Maybe she was just in one of her moods; she would also take it out on him when she got like that.

He was about to open his mouth to ask her what the fuck her deal was, but she beat him to it.

"Win me something," Monica simply stated as her golden eyes fell upon his dark ones.

"...Huh?" He breathed with confusion, his frustration now gone.

"Are you going deaf? I want you to win a prize for me," she explained and pointed at a nearby carnival game. It was the type of game where the player had to throw darts at a balloon to pop it.

"Ohh!" Zoro said with understanding as he released her hand and began to stretch his arms with a confident smirk. "Which prize do you want?"

Monica rolled her eyes at him as they moved towards the game. "All of them."

"Piece of cake," he replied with a grin and went to pay the game man. "I can do that with my eyes closed."

"Oh really?" It was now Monica's turn to smirk as she undid the scarf that was holding her hair in a high ponytail and went to tie it around Zoro's eyes. "I'm counting on you, Mido," she said and softly kissed him on his cheek.

With the darts in his hand, he paused for a moment before throwing the first one.

"Shit man! Watch where you're throwing!" The man in charge of the game shouted when the first dart nearly got his arm.

"My eyes are covered, jackass! You should just stay out of my way!" Zoro shouted back.

Monica, who knowingly stood a safe distance away from him, couldn't help but laugh as she shook her head, hoping that they wouldn't get kicked out. He was right, she did love that he could make her laugh.

"Fucking asshole," Zoro mumbled before quickly releasing his last three darts. Each of them successfully hitting and popping a balloon. The green-haired man wore a triumphant smirk when he lifted his makeshift blindfold to see his work.

"Very good, Mido!" Monica smiled as she went over to pick her prize.

"I told you it was nothing," he replied, but his proud smile quickly fell when he saw the stuffed animal that she chose.

"I think I'll call him Marimo," Monica declared, showing him the 2-foot tall green bear that she picked.

"... Please tell me that you're joking."

"No! I'm serious," she said as she shoved the stuffed animal at him. "Look! He's almost the same color green as your hair!"

"Have you been talking to that idiot love-cook?" Zoro asked cautiously and took the bear from her.

Monica had now moved over to the game and paid the man in charge of it. "What's Sanji got to do with this?" she asked as she quickly threw her four darts, each of them popping a balloon.

"Nothing," Zoro sighed, giving up on the idea that she might have heard Sanji refer to him as "marimo".

"Okay," she shrugged as she approached him with a bear similar to the green one that he was holding, except that the new one was purple. "This one's for you. What do you want to name it?"

Zoro gave her a skeptical look. "What the fuck am I gonna do with a stuffed purple bear?"

"Just name the damn thing."

"Fine . . . I don't know. . . Violet?"

"Great, here is Violet, now give me back Marimo," she said as they switched bears.

"But seriously, what am I supposed to do with this? Don't you think Luffy will get a bit suspicious about me having a purple bear?"

Monica paused and thought about it. "I really don't think he'll catch on..."

"Well Nami might," Zoro responded as he held his bear under his arm and took hold of Monica's hand again and started walking.

"Nami?"

"Yeah, she's been coming over more often."

"Oh, well that could be a problem..."

"You're telling me! She keeps bitching about the apartment! I say, if she has a problem with it, she should just not come over or clean it herself."

"I was talking about the bear..."

"Oh... That too. So does that mean that I can give it back?"

Monica stopped walking and hit him with her green bear. "No you can't give my gift back, jackass!"

"Calm down, it's not like I was insulting you," the man mumbled with his hands up defensively in preparation for another attack.

"Yes it was an insult!" Monica shot back at him angrily. "I oughta fucking stuff the damn be-"

"Excuse me?" A man with short black hair and glasses asked. The pair paused and looked at him, his camera, and the other people who had watched their mini-argument. "You two are just so adorable with your bears that I just had to get a picture of you."

"Oh, sure!" Monica answered and was suddenly calm as she fixed her hair.

"I don't get it, we're just two people with bears. . ." Zoro said.

"Just shut up and smile," his girlfriend responded as they positioned themselves. Monica hugged her bear in front of her while Zoro had one of his arms around her waist and the other arm holding his bear.

"No."

*FLASH*

Monica then turned to look up at him and he looked down at her. "Dammit, Zoro. Why must you be so difficult?"

"Hold it!" the photographer man shouted.

*FLASH*

Zoro didn't reply, but instead, he tilted his head and kissed her full on her lips.

"That's great! Perfect!" the camera man exclaimed excitedly as his shutter kept flashing while they kissed.

They continued to kiss for a few moments longer after the man had finished. Making sure that Monica had calmed down from her anger from before, Zoro slowly parted his lips from hers.

"Thank you so much guys! You two have such great chemistry," the man with the camera said as he walked over to them.

"Thanks," Monica smiled with some embarrassment of her earlier behavior and then turned to Zoro; she had been caught completely off guard.

"Here, give me your email and I'll send you the pictures," the man offered as he pulled a pad and pen from his camera bag.

"Yeah," Zoro said and scribbled down his email address for the man.

"I'll send them to you as soon as I get home. You two have a good night!"

"You too," Monica replied and waved to his retreating form. When he was gone, she turned to Zoro again, clearly fighting an embarrassed smile from the kiss. They both knew that his kisses would always put her at ease.

"You underestimate me too much," her boyfriend smirked and held her hand. "You probably even thought that I forgot how much you love snow cones," he continued as they walked over to a dessert stand. "Rainbow, right?"

"I hate you," she mumbled and looked away from him.

"What was that? You said that you love me and you're so glad to be stuck with someone as great as me?" Zoro joked as he paid for two snowcones, one rainbow flavored and the other lemon.

"You're pushing it, Mido," Monica said as she accepted her snowcone and licked it.

He just smirked at her as he pulled his phone from his pocket since it had just vibrated.

"What is it?" Monica asked as she leaned in towards him to read his phone, but then her own phone's ringtone sounded.

"Luffy and Nami are having some group dinner thing tonight," Zoro explained after he read his text message.

"Yeah, Nami just texted me too. She wants us there at 9, that's in two hours."

The green-haired man sucked his teeth in annoyance. "I don't wanna go to that shit."

"It's not gonna kill you... Plus, what would your excuse be for not going?"

"I don't know, I'll make something up," Zoro answered and watched as Monica rolled her eyes. "You weren't really thinking of going were you?"

"Of course I was, she's our friend and she lives on the floor above us."

"But what about us? I haven't seen you all week."

"If you go, we'll still see each other because we'll be at the same table. . ."

"Well yeah, but we won't be _together_."

"Oh that's what you're worried about," Monica realized. She paused as she thought about their options. She wasn't ready to deal with the potential questions and possible ridicule that their friends would give them if they found out about her and Zoro's relationship. She wanted to keep it as their little secret for as long as they could. "Well we could be together after dinner," Monica suggested with some seduction in her voice. "We'll just leave at different times and you tell Luffy that you have something to do so that he won't be looking for you later. I'll leave a spare key over the door frame."

Zoro thought about it for a couple of moments before nodding his head in agreement. "Sounds like a plan."

"Great, so I guess we should start heading back," his purple-haired companion said and continued to eat her snow cone.

Zoro nodded again as they started to walk back towards his car. "Did Nami say if she was gonna be the one doing the cooking? Because if that's the case, then I might actually die."

"You're such an idiot," Monica laughed.

- - -LATER THAT NIGHT- - -

"Luffy! Get your monkey claws away from the food, dammit!"

"But Sanji, I'm hungry!" the boy whined in response.

"I already told you that you can eat when it's finished! Now get out of here!" Sanji shouted and swiftly kicked Luffy out of the kitchen.

"Sanji's such a jerk," Luffy muttered as he stood up from the floor.

"What was that?! Are you sure you wanna eat tonight?!" Said cook yelled from the next room.

"Oye, Luffy, just calm down and sit with us. You really need to learn some patience," Nami sighed from her spot on the couch and offered him a glass of wine. "Here."

"Wine is gross, Nami," her boyfriend pouted and folded his arms across his chest.

"I got sake," Zoro simply stated from his armchair and tossed a bottle to his friend.

"Don't be so reckless with it! I'll kill you if anything gets on my carpet!" Nami scolded the green-haired man. "And get your damn feet off the coffee table! At least pretend like you know how to act in other people's homes."

"Luffy, how the hell do you deal with her constant bitching?" He asked his friend before drinking from his own bottle of alcohol.

"You ungrateful bastard! Why were you even invited?" Nami screamed and then took a pillow from the couch and threw it at him.

"You're aim sucks when you're drunk."

"Asshole! I'm not drunk! I can hold my liquor just fine, probably even better than you."

"Is that a challenge, witch?"

"You bet you ass it is!"

"Count me in too!" Luffy added.

"Marimo! Why is Nami-swan yelling? What the fuck did you do?" Sanji shouted as he stepped out of the kitchen, threateningly pointing a spatula at the green-haired man.

"I didn't do anything to her, curly-brow! Now mind your own business and finish cooking," Zoro shot back at him.

"Oohhh the food is ready Sanji?" Luffy asked with excitement.

"Not yet dumbass!"

"Oh my god, you are all fucking crazy..." Monica sighed as she shook her head at her friends' antics.

"But Sanji!" Luffy started up his hunger-driven whining again.

"Sanji-san, is there anything that you can quickly whip up for use to hold us over until dinner is ready?" Robin politely asked of him.

"Anything for you Robin-chwan!" the cook happily exclaimed and floated back into the kitchen to make something. A few moments later, he returned with a platter of cheese, crackers, and cold cuts. "I hope this will be enough to satisfy you lovely ladies."

"Oh this looks absolutely wonderful, Sanji-san. Thank you," Robin smiled at him.

"Yeah, thanks Sanji," Monica added before she and Luffy started to eat. Nami and Zoro even paused in discussing the terms of their drinking contest to grab a couple of crackers.

The poor man nearly fell to pieces at the women's gratitude and did his trademark noodle dance back into the kitchen.

About half an hour and 12 bottles of sake later, Sanji announced that dinner was now ready.

"Yippee!" Luffy happily exclaimed and quickly hopped over to sit at the head of the dinner table just as the blonde cook walked in with a platter covered in steaming steaks.

"Oi, Nami, where are you sneaking off to?" Zoro asked of the mikan-haired woman with a smirk. "The food is this way and remember, the first one to go to the bathroom to either piss or puke loses."

Nami froze in her movement towards the bathroom. Damn him. How could she have already forgotten the rules? But, shit did she have to pee. She had definitely overdone it this time since she was drinking for a couple of hours before he and Monica showed up. "Fuck you, Zoro!" She shouted at him before sprinting to the bathroom since her bladder was about to explode.

"I told you I'd win!" the green-haired man triumphantly called to her as he took the seat to Luffy's right. Robin sat next to him, the seat at the other end of the table was left empty for Nami, Sanji sat across from Robin once he finished bringing out the rest of the food, and Monica sat next to him, across from Zoro.

"Luffy, can't you wait til Nami gets back? It's rude to start eating when all of the guests are not at the table!" Sanji scolded him.

"After all that booze she drank, Nami's gonna be peeing for hours," he replied and began to stuff his face with the food in front of him.

"Nami-swan doesn't deserve such a jackass like you," Sanji sighed in defeat and began to make a plate for Nami before her boyfriend devoured all of the food.

Robin, Monica, and Zoro did the same because they knew their friend's monstrous eating habits.

Nami did make it back in time to enjoy the food that Sanji had put aside for her. The six of them managed to get through the delicious yet noisy dinner that mostly consisted of Zoro and Sanji's drunken, violent bickering.

"I will drop kick you into tomorrow, swirly-brow!" Zoro threatened.

"I'm the only one who's gonna be doing any kicking you shitty moss-head!" Sanji shouted back.

"Oye, Sanji-kun! Calm down, we know you're the best kicker in... everywhere," Nami waved in an effort to calm the blonde man down before taking a sip of her wine.

"Yeah, Zoro, right? Don't worry about Sanji. I bet you're good at a bunch of stuff," Monica smiled suggestively at him behind her own glass of wine. It was the first time that she had directly spoken to him during the last couple of hours that they had been at Robin and Nami's and they had been trying to keep up the idea that they didn't know each other, aside from the stray glances that had passed between them.

Zoro's gaze moved from Sanji and onto Monica and he remembered their plan when he felt something move against his leg.

The purple-haired woman's smile widened a bit and Zoro's lushed mind quickly worked to realize that it was her foot that was moving against his leg under the table.

"Oh right, speaking about tomorrow, are you guys all ready for our trip?" Nami excitedly exclaimed.

"I am!" Luffy answered and enthusiastically threw his hands in the air.

"You haven't even told us where we're going," Zoro pointed out.

"Or how we're getting there..." Monica added.

"I told you guys that it was a secret!" Nami responded. "You'll find out tomorrow."

"That's so annoying, Nami," Monica frowned at her friend.

"But don't you like surprises, Moni-chan?" Robin asked.

Monica shook her head, "Not when there's a high chance that my personal safety will be at risk."

"Shishishi! Even though those are the best surprises, she does have a point," Luffy laughed.

"What the fuck will we be doing that my life is at risk?!" Monica shouted.

"Don't worry about it, and don't listen to Luffy, you know he's crazy. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out," Nami said.

"Ugghh," Monica sighed.

"Oh yeah," Zoro muttered before finishing off his last bottle of alcohol and then standing up from the table.

"Oi, Zoro, are you leaving?" Luffy asked.

"Good riddance, everyone's tired of seeing your ugly mug," Sanji said.

"Oye! If anyone here is ugly, it's you with your weird-ass, curly eyebrow!" Zoro bit back. "Plus, I got stuff I gotta do for this trip tomorrow. Don't expect me til late, Luffy."

"Yeah, sure. Just don't forget about the trip," Luffy lazily replied.

"I'm not gonna forget," Zoro insisted. "I'll see you all tomorrow," he said before he turned and left.

"Well now that the jackass marimo is gone, I can finally serve dessert," Sanji said as he began to clear their empty dinner plates.

"Ooohh! What'd you make for us Sanji?" Luffy excitedly asked.

"Creme brulee," the cook answered and moved into the kitchen.

"Oohhh fancy! Is it sweet?" Luffy responded.

"Yes Luffy, it's sweet," Nami answered and then finished the rest of her glass of wine. "More red wine anyone?"

"Yes please," Robin replied and handed get glass over to her.

"Nah, I'm good," Monica said and stood up from her seat. "I'll just take my dessert to go. I've gotta finish packing for tomorrow's mystery trip."

"What? You're leaving already Neko-chan?" The cook asked when he returned with a tray of his homemade desserts.

"Yeah, but I will be taking _this_ with me, thank you," Monica answered and reached for one one of the sweets.

"Ohh, alright Neko-chan," Sanji said with a disappointed sigh. "Just don't stay up too late, you shouldn't skip out on your beauty sleep. "

"Thanks Sanji," Monica laughed. "And goodnight guys, I'll see you all tomorrow!"

Robin, Nami, Sanji, and Luffy all bid her goodbye until she left the apartment and was in the hallway.

"Woah," Monica mumbled when her intoxication hit her. She had been sitting for so long that she hadn't realized how much alcohol she drank. "Whatever, now I just have to hope that Zoro made it in alright."

And with that, Monica swayed her way down the hall and to the elevator. Once inside, it took her a couple moments to figure out and press the right button for her floor. A minute later, the elevator pinged and the doors opened onto her apartment's floor. She once again swayed and hummed her way down the hall and stopped in front of her door to dig her keys from her pocket.

"Mido?" She asked when she stepped in to her dark apartment and put her dessert on the kitchen counter. "Miiddoo?" She was now in her bedroom.

"Figures," she sighed and then began to shrug off her blue off the shoulder shirt and shimmy out of her denim shorts. She stepped over to one of her dressers and pulled out a white, sheer nightgown that stopped just below her butt when she slipped it on.

"Stupid Mido will probably rip the damn thing," Monica sighed when she looked at herself in the mirror.

She walked back to her kitchen. '_Where the hell is he anyway?'_ She picked up her phone from her kitchen counter and quickly dialed Zoro's number. The phone went through its usual amount of rings until the voicemail service turned on.

"Where the fuck could he be if he left before me?" Monica wondered aloud with frustration and then looked over at her creme brulee. "Well I guess you'll be keeping me company tonight," she mumbled and grabbed a spoon and her dessert and threw herself on her couch.

* * *

**Yep, that's all I have for this chapter. Sorry if it was a bit of a disappointment.**

**Originally this wasn't supposed to be here, but it seemed like I needed a ffiller chapter, so this was it.**

**See you guys next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sixième étage**

**CHAPTER 8**

*BEEP BEEP*

*BEEP BEEP*

*BEEP BEEP*

"Shut it up already!" A deep voice sleepily growled against his pillow.

"It's an alarm, it's supposed to wake us up," a feminine voiced groaned in response and reached a dark brown hand over to her alarm clock and smacked it into silence.

"Wait," she started with realization and quickly sat up in her bed. "Zoro? What the fuck are you doing here? When the fuck did you get here?"

When Monica got no response from her sleeping companion, she snatched the pillow from under his head and proceeded to hit him with it. "Wake up and answer me, dammit!"

"Oi! Oi! Alright!" Zoro said as he blocked her assault with his hands. Once she stopped, he yawned and rubbed his eyes as he explained. "I don't know when I got in, but when I did, I found you curled up and knocked out on the couch so I brought you in here."

"Oh right! I waited up for you, you jerk, and you never showed! Where the hell did you go?"

"I had to finish packing for today."

"That shouldn't have taken you over an hour to do..."

"I had a lot of shit to pack."

"You sure are full of shit," Monica responded as she folded her arms across her chest. "You got lost on your way over here didn't you?"

Zoro let out a frustrated sigh before answering, "Why is that always your first assumption?"

"Because nine times out of ten, I'm usually right! You used to get lost going from my room to your room, for god's sake!"

The green-haired man just released another frustrated sigh of defeat and laid back down.

"No, you get your butt up right now!" Monica said as she got out of the bed and pulled her sheets off him. "That alarm was so that I could get up on time for Nami's trip."

Zoro was still and silent for a moment. "I forgot about that..."

"How did you forget about it if we were just-? Ughh! Whatever!" Monica responded but just turned away from him and walked to her bathroom.

"Nice dress by the way," Zoro commented with a smirk as he followed her to the bathroom and watched her pull off her sheer, short nightdress.

She turned to face him and shot him a deadly glare. "That was wasted on your dumb ass since you decided not to show up..."

He stepped out of the sweatpants that he had worn to bed and replied, "Just bring it with you. I'm sure we'll make good use of it."

Monica had just turned on the water to her shower and paused in slipping off her black panties. "What?"

"I said: just bring it with you," he answered simply after he pushed down his boxers. He then stepped behind her and unclasped her bra before sliding his hands down her torso and resting on her hips. "You must be crazy if you thought that I would go a week without sex, or at least touching you," he whispered in her ear and helped her take off her underwear.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," she replied and stepped into the shower.

"What?!" Zoro gaffed and then followed her into the streaming water.

"I just don't want the others to find out," she explained as they began to wash each other. Clearly they had taken showers together before.

"I don't get it, what's the big deal if they do?"

Monica remained silent as he turned around and she washed his back.

Zoro was definitely not happy about this news. The last time they dated, he understood that they had to keep their relationship a secret from her family because they didn't know how they were gonna react and what the possible repercussions would have been. But why didn't she want their friends to know that they were dating?

"Do I embarrass you or something? And don't act like you've never said anything like that before, 'cause you have."

Monica was completely shocked by his question. "Where is that even coming from? I wouldn't be dating you if you embarrassed me!"

"Then stop acting like I do! What the hell else am I supposed to think when you wanna hide our relationship from our friends?" Zoro snapped back at her as he turned to face her. Their eyes found each other while she searched for some type of response.

But she couldn't think of anything to say. She wasn't really sure why she wanted to keep it a secret. She loved him, that she was absolutely sure of, but she just didn't see the need of telling their friends. Why did they even have to know? What would they think about their relationship? And why would it even matter what they'd think since it's none of their damn business?

"Murasa? Murasa," Zoro repeated. Monica had zoned out and he was trying to ask her something. "Which shampoo do you use?"

"Oh, this one," she answered and handed him a lime green bottle.

Zoro then proceeded to squeeze the contents from the bottle into his hand and worked it into a lather in her purple hair. Monica closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of Zoro's hands massaging her head. She had forgotten exactly how good he was with his hands, especially when he used them to give her personal body rub downs.

They finished the rest of their shower in silence, their current issue still unresolved.

"Why is your towel so big?" Zoro asked as he took hold of the towel that she had hanging by the shower that turned out to be huge.

"It's a bath sheet, so it's extra big," Monica answered.

"This thing is big enough for the both of us," he commented as he wrapped it around his back and then pulled Monica closer to him so that he could wrap it around her too.

She smiled when he picked her up and walked them out of the shower. He had broken the strained silence between them with his actions and she was glad for it. She hated it when things she would say would actually upset him.

"Zoro, I'm sorry that I haven't been more open about us. And it's not because of you or anything, I just don't think that they have to know," she said in an attempt at an apology. Zoro just rolled his eyes at her. "But I will make the effort to stop hiding our relationship from them. Like if the topic ever comes up, I won't deny anything."

"That's as good as I'm gonna get isn't it?" he asked as he rested his forehead against hers.

"Yep!"

"Well then I guess I'll have to take it," Zoro sighed and then kissed her.

Their lips remained together for a few moments until Monica woke up from the haze that his kisses would always put her in. She pulled her face away from his and said, "Shit, we gotta go."

"Go?" he questioned as she slipped her body from his grip and started to brush her teeth.

"Theh tchrip!" She exclaimed with her mouth full of toothpaste.

"Oh, right," Zoro said with absolutely no enthusiasm in his voice as he slowly walked from the bathroom as he dried himself off with the giant towel.

"Hey! How about you put a little bit more pep in your step," Monica commented as she had to move around him to get back into her room from her bathroom. "Dammit, where are the clothes I put out for today?"

"I don't get why you're rushing, it's not like their gonna leave without us," he replied with a yawn as he sat on the bed and lazily got dressed.

"With Nami in charge, I wouldn't be surprised if they did."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"That should be everything. I think we're ready to go," Nami announced when Zoro shut the trunk of their rented SUV. It was finally here, the end of May, which meant the first day of their vacation.

"Yosh! I call shotgun!" Luffy exclaimed as he ran around the vehicle to open the passenger door.

But he barely had his fingers wrapped around the door handle before Nami slammed her fist against the top of his head. "You're driving, idiot!"

"Oww! That hurt," her boyfriend whined as he held his head and made his way to the driver's seat. Nami just angrily sighed and hopped into the passenger seat, while Robin, Monica, and Zoro climbed into the back.

"Wait, why aren't I driving?" Zoro protested once they were out of their apartment building's garage and cruising nicely down the street.

"Because your dumb ass would probably get us lost," Nami replied simply as she applied some lip gloss to her lips.

"Oi, witch! I-" Zoro was about to insult her but was cut off when they suddenly swerved to the right.

"Ohh! Is that an ice cream shop?" Luffy asked as surrounding cars blew their horns.

"Keep your eyes on the road, dammit!" Nami shouted at him and shoved him and the car back into a singular lane on the street.

"We're all gonna die," Monica mumbled to herself.

"Well can I can see why Nami's not driving, her temper will probably get us chased by the police... or killed," Zoro responded with a smirk.

Nami slowly turned around behind with the most terrifying look on her face. "You had better sleep with your doors locked for the next week," she threatened before turning back around.

"Crazy witch," the green-haired man muttered while Monica noticed that Robin had been silent this whole time, save for her quiet laughter.

"Don't just laugh Robin! We're gonna die!"

"Hey! I'm not a bad driver," Luffy defended as he turned around to look at her.

"LUFFY!" Nami, Monica, and Zoro yelled at him in unison and he immediately turned his attention back to his driving.

"Seriously though, why aren't you driving Robin?"

"Because this is far too entertaining," the dark-haired woman stated simply with a smile.

"Oh Lord, keep us safe..." Monica sighed.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Okay everyone! We're here!" Luffy announced after the hour-long drive ended with him easing into a parking spot. "Oye! Zoro! Wake up!" he screamed and turned to slap the sleeping man in the face.

"You fucking asshole!" the green-haired man growled and reached forward to grab him. In his movement, he knocked into Monica who had also fallen asleep during the ride.

"Wha-? Are we here?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes and then watched as Zoro attempted to strangle his friend while Nami was trying to break them up.

"Yes we are, Moni-chan," Robin answered and closed the book she had been reading.

Monica turned her attention away from the feud and tried to look out of a window. "Where exactly is here?"

"Shishishi! The port!" Luffy answered excitedly as he hopped out the car and out of Zoro's reach.

"THE PORT?!" Monica exclaimed. "God damn you, Nami! Take me home!"

"Don't be ridiculous Monica, we're on vacation," Nami said with some annoyance as she and Robin exited the car.

"Nami! You know I don't like boats!" She should've known that there was some weird catch to this whole trip; especially since Nami never mentioned how they were getting to wherever they were going.

Zoro had also gotten out of the car and was reaching his hand out to her, "C'mon, we're already here."

"No," she stated and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

". . . Don't be difficult, Monica. Let's go."

"I'm not getting on a fucking boat."

The man sighed in frustration at her stubbornness and dipped back into the car and started to pull her out.

"Zoro! Let go!" Monica struggled against his grip but he was too strong.

"Get out of the car, dammit!"

"No!"

"I don't get it, why won't Moni-chan get out of the car?" Luffy asked as he took their luggage out of the trunk.

"It's because she gets a bit seasick," Robin answered.

"I just wanna know why Zoro seems comfortable enough with her that he can try to drag her out of the car," Nami wondered. "Didn't they just meet like a month ago?"

"I don't know, but I guess they know eachother well enough to have a sleepover," Luffy added nonchalantly.

"WHAT?!" Nami shouted. Robin remained silent as her eyes lit up in interest.

"Yeah, remember that time I went on that business trip with Ace? Well the morning when I got back, I walked in to see Monica walking out of Zoro's room with one of his shirts on," Luffy explained.

"Interesting..." Robin mused.

"This is better than interesting, this shit is gold!" Nami exclaimed.

*THUD*

"Shit Zoro! You didn't have to manhandle her!" Nami scolded when she looked to see what caused the noise. In the struggle to get her out of the car, Monica accidentally hit her head on the doorframe and was now knocked out cold.

"Oi! Don't blame me! You didn't even see what happened!" Zoro said in his defense as he took Monica's limp body from the car and carried her cradled in his arms towards the docks. But after a few steps, he stopped and stared at the nearest docked ship and erupted into laughter.

"What's so funny Zoro-san?" Robin asked of him as she rolled her suitcase next to him.

"That- That ship looks ridiculous!" He roared and nodded his head to the cruise ship-like boat ahead of him that had a giant lion's face as its figurehead.

"Hey! I picked out the lion!" Luffy defended and closed the SUV's trunk now that he had gotten all of the luggage out.

"You jerk! That's the ship we're getting on!" Nami shouted at Zoro and hit him on the head with her purse.

"Shit, witch! I almost dropped her!" he shouted back at her in reference to Monica who he still held in his arms.

"Well do a better a job of holding her!" the orange-haired woman bit back at him.

Zoro was about to respond again but was cut off when someone approached their group. "Ahoy, mates!"

"Franky! Hey!" Luffy greeted the overtly muscular, blue-haired man that walked towards them from their ship.

"You guys are the first ones to make it!" He smiled.

Nami shrugged when she responded, "Figures. Well at least we have the two biggest trouble makers here with us."

"Oye Nami, it's not like you to insult yourself," Luffy said with confusion.

Said woman gave him a swift kick in his gut for his comment. "Asshole! I was talking about you!"

"OOwwww!" the poor boy howled as he doubled over in pain. "Well then who's the other trouble maker?"

The group remained silent as they all turned to look at Zoro.

"Me?! How am I a trouble maker?!"

"Like I said earlier, you probably would've gotten lost!"

"I'll show you get lost..." Zoro said under his breath as he glared at her.

"Huh? What was that, Zoro?" Nami provoked him.

"Oye! Oye! Let's calm down! We're going on vacation on this SUPER amazing boat that I built!" Franky said as he broke the short-tempered pair up. "Plus, who's that?" he added and pointed at the woman in Zoro's arms.

"That's Monica," Robin explained. "She's a friend of ours and she's joining us."

"Is she asleep?" Franky asked.

"Nah, Zoro knocked her out," Luffy answered with litte interest in the conversation and started to walk towards the ship, pulling two rolling suitcases along with him.

"Ohh, that makes sense. I don't think that anyone can sleep with all of the yelling," Franky replied. "But now that I think about it, I never thought that you'd ever have to resort to kidnapping to get a date, Zoro. Isn't that kind of thing illegal?"

"I didn't kidnap her! What the fuck is wrong with you?" Zoro defended.

"You know how neanderthal-like he can be," Nami said to Franky. "I'm not really all that surprised," she finished and flashed an evil smirk to Zoro before following Luffy with her own luggage.

"You crazy- You were in the car with me!" the green-haired man shouted after her.

"Ohhh, so you all conspired to kidnap her?" Franky concluded. "Shame on you Robin for helping them," he said turning to Robin who giggled at him.

"No one kidnapped anyone!" Zoro shouted in frustration and stomped off towards the boat. "You're all fucking crazy!"

"Onii-san, she really is a friend of ours. She hit her head on the door frame on her way out of the car," Robin clarified for her brother.

"Ahhh! I figured as much," Franky said with realization. "Well it's a good thing that Chopper's coming; he can take a look at the bump on her head." He picked up the last suitcase by the car and he and Robin walked towards the boat.

"This is going to turn out to be quite an interesting trip," Robin smiled to herself.

"Yep, just like old times," Franky added.

- - - A FEW HOURS LATER - - -

"Oww my head!" Monica moaned as she held her head when she woke up. After a few seconds, she slowly sat up and took in her surroundings.

She was in a small bedroom, sitting on the single-sized bed that was pushed against one of the simple wood paneled walls. There were two bookcases filled with books and a glass cabinet with different colored vials and bottles lining the other walls. A wooden desk & chair were set across the room with a rectangular window above it. Monica's heart suddenly picked up its pace when she jumped across the room to look out of the window; but just as quickly, her heart sunk when all she could see was blue: blue sky mixing with blue sea . . .

A loud screech suddenly echoed in nearly every corner of the ship.

"What the hell was that? Franky, is the ship okay?" Nami asked when the odd sound reached the group on the deck.

They had set sail some time ago and everyone was enjoying the summer sun on the open, grass covered deck.

"Nah, that doesn't sound like a noise that a ship would make," the large, blue-haired man answered.

"Yeah, don't worry," Zoro yawned from his spot on the grass. "Monica probably just woke up and realized where we are."

"Oh," Nami said in realization. "You should go see if she's okay."

"What? Why me?!" Zoro exclaimed.

"Well you are the reason why she was knocked out in the first place," Robin chimed in from her lawn chair.

"Like I said before, it wasn't my fault!"

"Gaahh! Help!" Luffy shouted as he sprinted onto the deck and through the middle of the group. Monica was right on his tail, chasing after him with a chair.

"Come back, Luffy! I just want some answers, dammit!"

"Oye! Oye! Moni-chan, calm down!" The poor boy begged as he ran behind Nami's lawnchair.

"Don't hide behind me, idiot!" The orange-haired woman screamed.

"Zoro! Control your girlfriend!" Luffy shouted as said man grabbed Monica by her waist.

"Control?!" The young woman erupted. "I'll show you motherfucking contro-! Wait, did you say 'girlfriend'? Get your scrawny little ass over here Luffy!"

"Dammit Monica! Calm down!" Zoro shouted as he was finally able to wrestle the wooden chair out of her hands and then hoisted her off her feet.

"I am calm! Now put me the fuck down!"

"Stop struggling and I will!"

With an angry huff, Monica stopped trying to escape from his grasp and once he was sure that she was calm, Zoro let her go.

"Thank you," she breathed as she fixed her ruffled shirt. "Now will someone please explain to me what the fuck is going on?"

* * *

**Hey everyone! So their trip has started and poor Monica can't escape her friends' insanity now!**

**See you next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm honestly surprised at how relatively quickly I've been able to update this story. . . I'm not used to being this productive XD**

**Thank you to you guys who have been reviewing to every chapter, and to all of you who have been reading and made it this far. You all really motivate me and I really hope that I've been keeping you guys entertained.**

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

**Sixième étage**

**CHAPTER 9**

Last time: "So will someone please explain what's going on?"

"We're on vacation, girl. What does it look like?" Nami asked as she resituated her sunglasses on her face.

"It looks like I was kidnapped. . ." Monica replied and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I thought the same thing!" Franky added.

"Oh, they dragged you on this boat too?"

"Nah, I'm Franky and I built this SUPER piece of machinery," the blue-haired man replied, complete with his signature pose. "When Zoro-bro carried you onto the ship, I thought they'd kidnapped you."

"Oh right," Monica mumbled and smacked Zoro upside the back of his head. "Jackass!"

"What the hell was that for?!" He shouted at her.

"For making me hit my head in the car!"

"Well you shouldn't have been so stubborn and just gotten out!"

"I told you that I don't like boats!"

"You never told me that," Nami inserted.

"Bullshit, Nami! You know I don't like boats!" Monica responded.

"What kind of pirate doesn't like boats?" Luffy asked from his perch on the deck's railing.

"Shut up, baka! And get off the railing!" Zoro demanded as he went over to the boy.

"Pirate?" Monica questioned.

"Don't listen to Luffy," Nami sighed. "We're testing out a new business venture!"

"Of course," Monica said as she rolled her eyes.

"It's something of a mini-cruise line," Robin explained. "We take the guests on an adventure to find a valuable treasure."

"Congratulations! You're all the beta-testers!" Nami sang.

"Ohh, so we're playing pirates and searching for a 'treasure'. Got it," Monica summarized.

"What? We're not playing pirates, we are pirates!" Luffy clarified as he tried to move out of Zoro's reach.

"...What?" The purple-haired woman nearly hissed as her amber eyes scanned the faces on the deck with her; Nami, Robin, Franky, Luffy, and finally on Zoro.

Said man had been frozen in his spot in apprehension ever since Luffy had finished his sentence. He knew what was coming next, and he knew that he was in deep shit...

"Zoro... You guys are pi-"

"Pirates!" Luffy finished for her. "The Strawhat Pirates to be exact. And I'm King of the Pirates!"

"WHAT?!" Monica screeched in disbelief.

"Murasa, I can explain," Zoro cautiously said as he took a few steps towards her.

"Fuck you, Zoro!" She shouted at him as she turned around and stormed off to her room.

"What's wrong with her?" Luffy asked as he scratched his head in confusion.

"I don't know, but it was probably Zoro's fault so he had better fix it before our trip is ruined," Nami replied, not looking up from the magazine she was reading.

The green-haired man just gave her an annoyed grunt before he turned and left the the group on the deck.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Oye, you look more ugly than usual, marimo. What's your deal?" Sanji asked as he sliced some vegetables on the counter.

When Zoro left the deck, he walked down the hall towards Monica's room, but stopped and began to pace back and forth in front of her door as he tried to decide on what to say to her.

He had fucked up. He had fucked up bad. And he knew that it was going to take some work for him to get Monica to forgive him.

So he turned from her bedroom door and went to get the one thing that would help him think better.

"You do know that drinking won't solve all of your problems, jackass," Sanji said in response to his silence. "So tell me what happened."

The green-haired man was hunched over the dinner table, spinning his second bottle of beer around on its base as he sighed before answering the cook. "It's Monica."

The blonde paused in his food preparation to listen and take a drag on his signature cigarette. "Oh right, I heard the commotion. I had a feeling that it was your fault."

Zoro just ignored the insult and continued to explain. "She doesn't like boats. And when we got to the pier, she didn't want to get out of the car, so I tried to help her and she ended up hitting her head."

"Hmm," the blonde mused. "Wait, wasn't there some screaming about pirates?"

Zoro rolled his eyes when he remembered. "Oh yeah, she also hates pirates and I never told her that that's what we are."

"But why would you be responsible for telling her that?"

Zoro instantly straightened his posture when he realized that he almost said too much. "Forget it," he said as he stood up from the table, taking his half full beer bottle with him. "And you're wrong, alcohol can solve all of my problems."

"Fucking weirdo," Sanji mumbled once Zoro had walked out of the kitchen.

- - - LATER THAT NIGHT - - -

"Oi! Open up!" Zoro shouted as he hammered his fist on Monica's bedroom door.

It was now nighttime and Monica did not show up for dinner and for the last few hours, Nami had nearly literally been chewing off Zoro's ear about apologizing to her.

"Monica!" Zoro called again through the door.

"Zoro! Beg for her forgiveness quieter! And Monica! Open the damn door!" Nami shouted as she stepped into the hallway from her room.

"Shut up and go to sleep, witch!" The green-haired man retorted.

"I would if you'd stop screaming, you drunk brute!"

"Holy shit, you two! I'm out, what do you want?" Monica said as she opened the door; Nami gave Zoro a huff before retreating back into her room.

"C'mon," Zoro said as he grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her with him.

"Take it easy!" The purple-haired woman shouted as she was dragged out onto the deck.

"Sit," Zoro said when they stopped in front of the railing that surrounded the edge of the deck. He was the first to sit down and did so next to a wooden box with his legs dangling over the edge of the ship between the railings. With a sigh, Monica followed suit and sat down next to him.

"Here," Zoro simply stated as he passed her a bottle of sake from the box next to him and then began to drink from his own bottle.

"You're drunk aren't you? How much have you had to drink?" She asked him when she took the bottle he offered her.

"Just shut up and listen," he replied. There was a long pause afterwards, with only the sounds of the waves moving against the ship and a light breeze filling the silence.

"See? The ocean isn't that bad."

Monica sighed; it's true that she never had a thing against boats, but that doesn't make up for what Zoro did. "I know... but that's nothing compared to you lying to me."

"Oi, get your shit straight, I never lied to you," he said before taking a swig of his sake.

"Omitting the truth is just as bad."

"Yeah, yeah, well I'm sorry, okay?"

"If you think I'm gonna accept your drunk, half-assed apology, you've got another thing coming. You know how big of a deal this is to me."

"Yeah I do, which is why you can at least appreciate the fact that I never told you from the beginning and that I've always given you fair warning that you wouldn't want to know what I did."

- - - SOME YEARS AGO - - -

"Are you drunk yet?" Monica grinned as she tipsily leaned towards him.

"Why? Are you gonna try to take advantage of me?" Zoro asked with an arched eyebrow.

"You wish!" She laughed so hard that she almost lost her balance and rolled off the cliff they had been sitting on.

"Hey! Be careful," he warned as he reached out and pulled her towards him.

Monica released a satisfied sigh when she fell against his chest and hugged him. "Zoro, what are you doing here?"

The man wrapped his arms around her and stared off into the flaming campfire in front of them. "You're the one who dragged me up here. You tell me."

Before they left for their usual trip into the forest earlier that day, Monica had packed a whole bunch of camping supplies and alcohol, claiming that they were going to be spending the night under the stars.

"No, Mido," she laughed again, "I meant, what are you doing here on my island?"

Nope. He might have been feeling a buzz, but Zoro was definitely not drunk enough to make the mistake of telling her what he currently did for a living, especially since he had already messed up and told her that he was no longer bounty hunter; he already knew how she would feel about it, but he still didn't know why...

"I'm here to train," he answered cautiously.

"I know that, that's all you do everyday. But I wanna know_ why_ you've been training so hard."

"I have a promise to keep." It had been months now, and almost everyday, Monica had asked him what he had been doing between their very first meeting and when he ended up on "her" island, and almost everyday he would have to remind her that she would not like to know the answer to that question.

"Ohhh what kind of promise?" She looked up at him and her amber eyes suddenly took on a brighter glow in the light from the fire.

_'Quick! Luffy or Kuina? Luffy or Kuina?'_ Zoro panicked in his mind as he tried to come up with a safe answer for her question. "I promised to help a good friend of mine reach his dream."

"Ohh and what's his dream?"

"I can't tell you that, it's personal and I'd be betraying my friend's trust." Yes! Nice save!

"Ohh," Monica have him a bit of a pout and rested her head against his chest again.

"Now it's my turn. How did you end up on this crazy ass island?"

She paused before she answered and then moved from sitting at his side to sitting in his lap. She leaned her back against his chest and nuzzled her head under his chin. Some animal gave a far off howl as Zoro wrapped his arms around her. "We, my sister and I, were brought here."

Zoro waited for a few moments for her to continue before he asked, "Why were you brought here?"

"Our mom died when pirates raided and burned down our village. And by some series of slightly unfortunate events, we ended up here."

Zoro hugged her tighter. He had never even once wondered about her parents. Maybe it was because he had grown up without his own parents, so he just didn't realize that other people might have still had theirs. The stories of the others' parents were. . . complex and not spoken of often, so that didn't really help him much to remember either. . .

But anyway, back to her. Now he knew why she once told him that she hated pirates. It turns out that she had a completely valid reason. Who would like the group of people who killed their mother? Now he had even more of reason as to why he would never tell her that he was a pirate.

"I guess it's worked out though. Mom always did tell us to go to Kuraigana Island if anything ever happened to her."

"I don't get it," Zoro replied. He had a feeling that he had missed something . . .

"You can be a real idiot sometimes, Mido," Monica smiled and snuggled her body closer against his.

- - - END OF FLASHBACK - - -

Monica just narrowed her eyes at the man next to her. He could be a real jerk sometimes, especially when he was drunk.

"Whatever, be mad at me. But only me," Zoro continued. Even though it was fairly dark out, with just the full moon lighting the sky, Monica could see the serious expression that was etched onto his face. "Don't take it out on our friends. And don't ruin their fucking trip. They didn't know, so what's the point of being pissed at them for it?"

She remained silent, and for that first time since they sat down, she drank from her bottle of sake. _'Stupid Zoro... Stupid, jackass, fucking Zoro... Why does he always have to have his moments of intelligence when I'm mad at him?'_

They sat in silence for a while, drinking their sake as they watched the sea lap against the boat, just below their dangling feet.

"I really am sorry that I didn't tell you, Murasa," Zoro spoke with his voice full of sincerity.

"I know, Mido. Thanks," Monica sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"So are you still mad at me?"

"Hell yeah I am!" She answered and jokingly punched him in his arm.

* * *

**Hey guys! So this ended up being shorter than I expected but that's okay because I still have alot more of the story to get through!**

**See you all next chapter!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sixième étage**

**CHAPTER 9**

"Morning everyone," Monica greeted her friends the next day as she stepped into the kitchen for breakfast. They returned her greeting as best they could since some of them already had food in their mouths. They were all there: Robin, Nami, Franky, Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and a furry-looking dog with a hat and... antlers? "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"My name is Tony Tony Chopper, ma'am!" The furry reindeer/dog cheerfully answered.

"Yosh! Choppeh's our docteh'," Luffy informed her through a mouth full of food.

"Aaww! You're so adorable!" Monica exclaimed to him.

A visible blush appeared on the doctor's cheeks as he swayed and replied, "Calling me adorable won't get you any special treatment, baka!"

Monica was surprised. "Wow, you've got quite a mouth on you..."

"He doesn't take well to compliments," Nami explained and then took a sip of her coffee.

"Clearly . . . Well anyway, I'm here to apologize to you guys for my behavior yesterday," Monica said as she bowed to them and after a few moments, stood upright again before taking the empty seat next to Nami. "But it would've been great to know that my friends were pirates _before_ we took this trip."

"And we're sorry for that, Moni-chan," Robin replied. "It just never seemed like a good time to bring it up."

"Or necessary," Nami inserted.

"And you know that one of the rules of The Continent is that newcomers 'must abandon their past lives at the border to take on this new one'," Robin finished.

The "Continent" that Robin mentioned referred to a combination of secret government workings and a series of freak geological phenomena that occurred a few years ago, at around the same time that Zoro and Monica were dating and during the crew's two year separation. Over the course of a few months, submerged land masses shot up from the sea along the Red Line and a few nearby islands drifted in and connected themselves to it, forming one giant mass of land.

"Thankfully" the World Government was nearly finished with the process of secretly building something of a metropolis on the uninhabited parts of the Red Line that was just a bit north of Mariejois and the home of the World Government. But rumors had been spreading for some years before the metropolis' completion. The whispers began when news came up that the Marines were going from island to island, gathering up the best architectural and technological minds they could find, and shipping them and their families off somewhere.

Fast forward a few years and the freak geographical shifts and you now have what is simply called: The Continent, the new and improved Red Line complete with skyscrapers, streets, cars, cell phones, and a complex school system. It even functions as a convenient "bridge" between the North and East Blues, but with the very strict rule that it is a territory where no pirate may never step foot. They do, however, have the option of living on The Continent, but only if they agree to abandon and renounce their lives as pirates forever or else be sentenced for treason at Impel Down.

"Yeah, but I think that rule gets voided when you're part of the Pirate King's crew and you decide to drag your new best friend and business partner on one of your misadventures," Monica defended. "How are you guys even getting away with this?"

"Like I said yesterday, we're testing out a new business venture in the form of a mini cruise line," Nami explained.

"But if we get caught-" Monica started.

"I'm the Pirate King!" Luffy excitedly reminded her.

"That doesn't mean we all can't get arrested . . ." Monica reasoned.

"He's also part of the Shichibukai," Sanji explained. "So as long as nothing horrible happens, like starting another war or setting a government building on fire, we should be okay."

"But nothing's ever guaranteed!" The captain exclaimed.

His crew groaned in anguish that their captain had neither no sense of danger nor a fear of being incarcerated.

"When the fuc- No, _how_ the fuck did he end up a Shichibukai?" Monica asked with surprise.

"Girl, don't you ever pick up a newspaper?" Franky asked.

The purple-haired woman shrugged as she answered, "I haven't had a reason to since I moved here, and before then, I never really cared."

"Well you missed out on some of the most SUPER, amazing years in pirate history!" Franky informed her.

"Really though, how'd you go so long without knowing what was happening? Or even realizing who we are? Our pictures were everywhere for a while," Nami asked of her friend.

"Well I had heard about you guys a couple of times in passing, but I never paid much attention to it. So of course I never would've put two and two together..." Monica answered.

"So then why did you get so upset when you found out that we were pirates?" The mikan-haired woman asked of her.

Monica paused and quickly glanced at Zoro with some nervousness about her answer. "I've just had some bad dealings with them in the past."

"Haven't we all?" Nami sighed as the first person to break the silence that fell among them after Monica's answer; the rest of her crewmates nodded in agreement.

"So," the amber-eyed woman started in an effort to dissolve the group's sadness, "When you all were growing up together, did you always want to become pirates, or was it something that just happened?"

Sanji and Nami froze at her question; they had forgotten the stories that they told her of their friendship and how long they had all known each other.

"We didn't grow up together," Luffy said through a mouth full of pancakes.

"And other than Luffy-bro, none of us really wanted to become part of any pirate crew," Franky added.

"Yeah, Luffy pretty much forced us to join his crew," Zoro finished. Said captain was vigorously nodding in agreement with his trademark grin.

"... Are there any more lies that you guys would like to come clean about?" Monica asked dryly as she looked from Nami to Sanji and then to Robin who was trying to suppress her giggles. "Robin! This isn't funny!"

"Hey, we never lied about being pirates, we just forgot to mention it," Nami defended.

"Withholding information is just as bad!" Monica shouted back.

"Aahh~ Neko-chan~! I hate that you're angry, but you're so beautiful when you're upset!" Sanji cooed from behind the kitchen island. "What can I do to make you feel better? Is there something special you would like for me to make for you? Would you like a drink? Or how about a massage?"

"Cut it out, you shitty cook," Zoro growled from his seat with a dangerous glare.

"Oye, what was that, moss-head?" The blonde shot back with a glare of his own and a large butcher knife suddenly appeared in his hand.

"You heard me, swirly-brow. Cut your shit. Unless you want me to help you out with that." A devilish smirk appeared on the swordsman's face as he spoke his last sentence and stood with a hand resting on one of his three katana.

"Well that escalated quickly," Monica mumbled with surprise at the two men's argument.

"Nah, those knuckleheads are always like this," Nami said nonchalantly as they watched Chopper and Franky try to keep Zoro and Sanji from attacking each other while their captain calmly continued to eat his and everyone else's breakfasts.

"The real question is: why did this argument even start in the first place," Robin added with a knowing smile.

Nami turned to Monica with a mischievous grin. "Oh yeah, I know Sanji's behavior normally irks Zoro, but this time he seems especially pissed off."

"Why are you guys looking at me like that?" Monica asked with clear uneasiness. "I don't know what his deal is!"

"Right," Nami said sarcastically.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, Moni-chan," Robin sang with amusement.

"What do I have to explain?" The purple-haired woman asked.

"Whatever the fuck is going on between you and Zoro," Nami answered simply.

Monica opened her mouth to deny that she had any type of relationship with the green-haired swordsman. But then she remembered her promise to him . . . Ughh, she was not ready for this . . .

So she took a deep breath and leaned in towards her friends and whispered, "We'll talk about it later."

Nami let out a squeal of excitement while Robin leaned towards Monica with her standard smile and asked, "Why are we whispering, Moni-chan?"

"Oh my angels! Your whispers are like little gusts of wind from heaven!" Sanji suddenly exclaimed when he caught sight of the trio.

"You piece of shit! Keep your dick to yourself!" Zoro shouted and caught everyone off guard. They were all silent and frozen in shock. Sanji's face was suddenly a bright red color from a mixture of rage and embarrassment from his rival's crude comment. Robin and Franky couldn't control their chuckles, while Monica, Chopper, and Nami were experiencing some of the most awkward moments of their lives.

"Oi Sanji, that's not fair! You always get on me about not wearing a shirt or shoes to meals, but you get to walk around with your dick out? You're such a jerk!" Luffy commented when he finally stopped eating.

"That's not what the idiot marimo meant, jackass!" The cook screamed in fury as he wrapped his hands around his captain's neck and viciously shook the poor boy.

"I'm leaving," both Monica and Zoro unknowingly mumbled in unison. It wasn't until they reached the door at the same time that they realized that they were both trying to get out of the kitchen. After a pause, Zoro let Monica walk in front of him and they snuck out onto the deck.

"So what was that about?" The purple haired woman asked as she rested against the ship's railing and looked ahead at the ocean.

"What was what about?" Zoro replied and leaned his back on the railing next to her.

"That near death match with Sanji."

"Oh that," the swordsman groaned, "that jerk just likes to piss me off. It's like it's his job or something."

"Hmmm," Monica mused as she turned to face his side. With a smirk she leaned towards him and started to play with his three gold earrings. "I think that someone was jealous."

Zoro gave her a quick glare and scoffed. "Where did you even get the from?"

"Well you little argument didn't start til he complimented me. And then you told him to keep his dick in his pants."

The green-haired man shrugged at her logic. He would never admit that he was jealous of that shitty cook. "I still don't see how that means that I got jealous."

"But you were definitely angry."

"I told you, the guy likes getting on my nerves. Of course I'd be mad."

Monica was silent for a moment as she just watched him with a small smile. "I like when other guys make you ... angry when it comes to me. It's nice to know that you care so much for me."

"What?! You only know that I care about you whenever other guys piss me off?" Zoro asked with surprise as he turned to her. "You're crazy, you know that?"

Her smile widened into a grin at his reaction as she moved one of her hands to his waist and gave him a soft kiss on his lips. "Of course."

Zoro smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist and returned her kiss. "So you forgive me?" he asked after he pulled his face away from hers.

Monica buried her face against the white shirt that covered his chest with a sigh. "Maybe," she mumbled as she moved to hug him, but then paused when one of her elbows bumped into something. "Oh right, why do you have your katana?"

"We _are_ still pirates," the swordsman answered simply.

"But technically, you're not."

Zoro shrugged, "You never know what's gonna happen, especially when Luffy's around."

_'Exactly what is that kid capable of?'_ Monica wondered.

"I even packed yours," Zoro continued.

"Wait, what?!" she gaped at him. "How did you even know where I kept them?"

The green-haired man smirked at her. "I just remembered where you always used to keep them: under your pillows." Monica let out an exasperated sigh, she really should give him more credit. "The look like they haven't been used in a while though. Training starts tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? You jerk! We're on vacation!" She exclaimed and jokingly punched his chest.

* * *

**UUUGGGHHH I have no excuses except for extreme procrastination... **

**I hope I haven't lost you guys yet! See you next chapter!**


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